defense secretary james mattis just concluded a meeting with nato defense ministers in brussels. then he held a brief news conference, where he discussed the nato alliance and answered weston's about -- answered questions about u.s. relations with russia. >> ladies and gentlemen, secretary mattis will make a statement and then take two questions. sec. mattis: yes, ma'am. good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. i just completed the defense ministerial, wherein had the opportunity to engage in a bilateral discussion with a number of rfid -- of our fellow ministers. ministerialwe all had a dinner , reaffirming our strong transatlantic bond. it is the strongest i have ever seen. i have experience here at nato, and i was impressed by how strong the bond is. my intent is to affirm the full

u.s. commitment to nato, and to gain an updated appreciation of the situation facing our alliance. the burden-sharing message i delivered was effective, and it was very well received, and i depart confident that the alliance will be unified in meeting today's security challenges. i especially appreciate the leadership of secretary-general's goldberg and the clear alignment of our messages, as well as the messages delivered by so many of the unified alliance member nations and their ministers of defense. is theted, nato fundamental bedrock for keeping the peace in defending the freedoms we enjoy. alliance.peerless it is a manifestation of our principles and shared values, and the u.s. commitment to article five and our mutual defense is rocksolid. in our meetings, we discussed

the strategic situation facing the alliance. many allies, including the minister of germany, recognized 2014 as a watershed year that awakened allies to a new reality. my message to my fellow ministers was simple. nato arose out of strategic must bey, and nato called in response to the new strategic reality. our community of nations is under threat on multiple fronts, as the ark of insecurity builds on nato's periphery and beyond. we discussed the increased threats facing our alliance, and unified by the threats to our democracies, i found a strong alliance resolve to address these threats. russia's aggressive actions have violated international law and are destabilizing. andorism in the middle east

north africa is a direct and immediate threat to europe and to us all. i am reminded of the tragic attacks on our european allies and what they have suffered in paris, nice, berlin, istanbul. the list goes on. we have recognized that the instability has taken on new forms that we must address, for example, in the cyber domain. is reinforcingto deterrence and defense, and adapting to more directly address terrorist threats along our southern flank in the mediterranean and turkey, and the words of the turkish emoji, defense allseamless the way across the mediterranean. we also met with one of nato's closest partners, georgia. i expressed appreciation and respect on george's contributions in afghanistan.

the alliance space is not only strategic realities, but also political realities. i depart confident that we have an appreciation of the burden sharing that we must all sustain for deterrence, peace, and prosperity. i am optimistic the alliance will adopt a plan this year to make steady progress toward meeting defense commitments in light of the priest -- in light of the increased threats we face. it is imperative we do so to confront the threats as outlined by the ministers of defense over the last two days. that means those nations already ,ommitting 2% of gdp to defense and the commitments other allies have made to commit to 2%, give me the confidence that nothing can shake our unity and our commitment to defend our way of life. we specifically appreciate poland, and the

united kingdom, who have already .et the 2% commitment these countries are leading by example, making real sacrifices. all allies recognize they are benefiting from the best defense in the world. i am optimistic that all nations to reachsteady path the commitments made at the wales and warsaw summits. the transatlantic bond built on common values remains strong. i see in brussels a quick and purpose in this alliance, and a profound determination to stand together and honor our commitments to each other. i have confidence that we will sustain a legacy we have inherited and do what is necessary to defend our freedoms. thank you very much. i am happy to take your questions. reporter: jennifer griffin, fox news. thank you, sir. what does russia need to stop

doing in order for the u.s. to work with it? the chairman of the joint chiefs is making -- is meeting with his russian counterpart for the first time since russia invaded ukraine. can you trust the russians? i think the point about russia is they have to live by international law, as we expect all mature nations to do. what we will do is we will engage politically. we are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level, but our political leaders will engage and tried to find common ground or a way forward where russia, living up to its commitments, will return to a partnership of sorts with nato. to have to prove itself first and live up to the commitments they have made in the russia-nato agreement. reporter: do you believe russians interfered in the u.s.

elections? say theres: i would is little doubt that they have either interfered or attempted to in a number of elections in the democracies. reporter: you said yesterday that the u.s. would think about moderating its commitment to nato if european members of the alliance did not increase its defense budget, but what does that mean, exactly? does that mean that rocksolid support for article five does not necessarily suspend, or you will withdraw troops from europe? can you elaborate on that? sec. mattis: the commitment to .rticle five remains rocksolid the message are brought here about everyone carrying their fair share of the burden, the sacrifice to maintain the best defense in the world, was very well received.

it was not contentious, there was no argument. it was simply discussion about how best and how fast can each nation reach it. i leave here very optimistic. we will take one more question just to show that i'm boss. [laughter] thank you, sir. the russian defense minister took issue with your remarks yesterday, and said if nato wants to deal with russia from a position of strength, there is o talk about. separately, have you requested help from allies for the counter-isil fight, and you need to send additional american troops to syria? sec. mattis: i feel no need to response to the russian statement at all.

the has always stood for protection of the democracies and the freedoms we intend to pass on to our children. but you asked two questions. just can't keep you journalists down. i don't know. i think you would have to ask that question of some others in order to get a full answer. it is just not one i would be comfortable answering all my own at this point. reporter: meaning you have not decided? i firsttis: right now, want to talk to the other allies, and we will decide where we are going. i want to fly from here to the middle east, and i am not comfortable answering it yet. once we know what we have for a mutual appreciation of the

situation, then we will go forward, but i am not comfortable answering it yet. i consider myself a couple weeks in office. first, i need to get current, and once i get current and get allies' assumptions and appreciations for the situation, we will carve out where we want to go, and at that point we can give you a much more steady hand. i would be concerned with giving you a half-baked one. we need at least one non-american now. reporter: this is from danish television. sir, could you please elaborate more about the word "moderate?" sec. mattis: i would prefer not to, ma'am, because basically that is the headline i do not .nticipate by putting it out there and being honest among friends, we say this is a burden we all have to carry equally, and by being

persuasive, we will write our own headlines as a unified alliance that will stand up for each other, and i am very confident that we will not have to have that. sometimes you say the things you don't want to have happen. but thank you, ladies and gentlemen. i don't think i am going to get ahead of these ladies, so i am going to give up while i am only somewhat behind. thank you very much. announcer: c-span's washington journal, live everyday with news and policy issues that impact you. friday morning, mark ogden, project manager for the association of state dam safety,

will discuss the aging dam system in the wake of california's orville dam of actuation. and a civil liberties policy analyst at the cato institute will discuss recent allegations of repeated contact between senior trump campaign staff and russian intelligence officials. and the director of the institute for government will talk about the future of the u.s.-transatlantic relations, what is ahead for nato, the rise of nationalism and populism in europe, and the implications of brexit area watch beginning -- and locations of brexit. watch beginning at 7:00 a.m. eastern friday morning. this weekend, c-span cities tour will explore the literary life and history of richmond, virginia, saturday at noon eastern on book tv. we will talk with former virginia governor douglas wilder , now a professor at virginia commonwealth university. he was the first

african-american to be elected governor of the commonwealth. ground.p an ear to the people are always ahead of politicians. politicians here what they want to hear, people hear what they have to here. announcer: we will also visit the edgar allan ho museum -- oe museum.n p >> if it were not for richmond, pope would not have the chance to experiment and find his literary voice. richmond'sexplore history from the american revolution, the civil war, and today. and then we will visit the home of maggie walker, a leader of richmond's african-american community at the turn of the 20th century. she became the first female ceo of a bank in the united states. >> her goal was to help women of

the organization, and when black women in the entire immunity -- and black women in the entire community. that's what the strength came to the. walkerat platform, mrs. goes on not just to have an effect in richmond, but toward civil rights and equal opportunities for black women across the united states. announcer: watch saturday at noon eastern on c-span's "book saturday on "american history today" on c-span3. announcer: as part of a meeting of g20, secretary of state rex tillerson and his russian counterpart survey lavrov held their first face-to-face meeting. they spoke to