European allies at NATO on Thursday brushed aside concerns that the United States has stepped back from its leadership role of the world’s biggest security organization, leaving them and Canada to do the lion's share of defending Europe.

NATO launches the mission in response to Russian and Chinese ambitions in the high North, and to President Trump’s threat of a US takeover of Greenland. Japan’s last pair of giant pandas returns to China.

BRUSSELS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - NATO states have announced hundreds of millions of dollars of support for the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative to supply Ukraine with U.S. weapons,

Two NATO Joint Force Commands led by U.S. officers will transition to be European-led in an apparent answer to President Trump's calls for Europe to contribute more to its defense.

As Trump puts America First before the Munich Security Conference, the alliance's eastern border may be its next flashpoint.

Donald Trump has handed control of three top Nato command posts to European countries. Britain will take over its Atlantic Command headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, while Italy has been given responsibility for the southern flank at its Naples base.

America's NATO allies say they're not disappointed by top Trump administration officials skipping summits, as they ramp up their own regional defenses.

BRUSSELS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Increased military spending by Europe countries and Canada will make NATO allies more equal partners within the alliance, U.S. Under Secretary of Defence Elbridge Colby said on Thursday.

Undersecretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby outlined his vision for a “NATO 3.0″ to replace “NATO 2.0” in response to changing world dynamics. Speaking at the NATO Defense Ministerial, Colby announced that the “unipolar moment” after the fall of the Soviet Union was now over,