Biden says 'sacred' commitment to NATO allies makes America safer on 75th alliance anniv.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday America's "sacred" commitment to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies makes the United States safer and gives it a bulwark of "unrivaled" security, as he marked the 75th anniversary of the transatlantic alliance.

His paean for the 32-member alliance came amid lingering speculation that should former President Donald Trump, now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, return to the White House, NATO could face difficulties due to what is viewed as his transactional foreign policy approach.

"We must remember that the sacred commitment we make to our Allies — to defend every inch of NATO territory — makes us safer too, and gives the United States a bulwark of security unrivaled by any other nation in the world," Biden said in a statement.

"And like our predecessors, we must ask ourselves what can we do — what must we do — to create a more peaceful future," he added.

Biden touted the alliance as being "larger, stronger, and more determined than ever before" today, stressing that the United States must "choose to protect this progress and build on it."

"We've added Finland and Sweden to the Alliance — two democracies, with two highly capable militaries. Over the past three years, our NATO Allies have increased their own annual defense spending by almost $80 billion," he said.

"As our adversaries have plotted to break our remarkable unity, our democracies have stood unwavering."

He also noted that in July, the U.S. will host a NATO summit that will bring together allies to "modernize" their defense and deterrence.

In a separate statement, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that America's commitment to NATO remains a "sacred trust" as he took a swipe at Russian President Vladimir Putin for his country's war against Ukraine.

"Putin's reckless and lawless invasion of Ukraine has brought war back to Europe on a scale that NATO's founders had hoped to consign to history. Today, the world needs NATO as much as ever," the secretary said.

"When our leaders meet in Washington in July for NATO's 75th anniversary summit, we will strengthen our resilience, accelerate the development of advanced technologies, advance the implementation of NATO's most robust defense plans since the Cold War, and strengthen our collective deterrence and defense," he added.

The anniversary follows Trump's controversial campaign remarks in February.

Out on the stump, Trump said that if reelected, he would "encourage" Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" to "delinquent" NATO members that fail to meet their defense spending commitments.

Biden later called the remarks "outrageous" and "dangerous" while his administration stressed that the first time the NATO has invoked its Article 5 is when America was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. Article 5 stipulates the collective defense principle that an attack against one NATO ally is an attack against all. (Yonhap)