Nato's Jordan office to open 'soon' as King Abdullah meets allies

King joins Nato foreign ministers' meeting for first time as alliance seeks closer Middle East ties

Jordan's King Abdullah, centre, and Crown Prince Hussein, left, were welcomed to Nato headquarters by the alliance's Secretary General Mark Rutte. Reuters

Nato said on Tuesday that its first Middle East liaison office will open "soon" in Jordan as it held talks about the fighting in the region with the country's King Abdullah II.

The defence bloc's Secretary General Mark Rutte said Nato "needs to have strong relations" with Middle East and African states, as he welcomed King Abdullah and Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah to allied headquarters in Brussels. The king was addressing a Nato foreign ministers' meeting for the first time.

He used his visit to call for "comprehensive regional calm to end the cycle of violence" to ensure that Lebanon's ceasefire succeeds. Jordan also "stands by Syria, its territorial integrity, sovereignty, and stability", he said.

The king "reaffirmed the importance of stepping up efforts to end the Israeli war on Gaza and bolster the humanitarian response in the strip, stressing the need to put an end to extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank", said Jordan's royal court.

Members of Nato voiced concern about a further escalation of fighting in the Middle East, as rebels seize territory in Syria while Israel continues its year-long offensive in Gaza. The royal visit from Jordan is part of a push for closer ties with what Nato calls its "southern neighbourhood".

Mr Rutte said the alliance "will open our Nato liaison office in Amman soon", under an arrangement announced in July. Nato says the outpost will hold regular talks with Jordanian authorities and training programmes in areas such as civil emergency planning and cyber security.

"This is an important step in making our deep relationships in the region even stronger," said Mr Rutte, who was chairing his first Nato foreign ministers' meeting since succeeding Jens Stoltenberg in October. He described Jordan as one of Nato’s most important partners in the Middle East.

Mr Rutte said Nato could not leave the field to China and Russia in forging ties with the Middle East and Africa. He said the alliance "has to be active there" by forging bilateral ties and "helping out when necessary", such as it does with a training mission with Iraq.

It is crucial Nato has strong relations with the Gulf countries, Mr Rutte added, saying for years now King Abdullah has been very helpful in steering the alliance with all his knowledge of the region.

King Abdullah has previously urged European states to increase their Middle East peace efforts and told them only a "solution to the Palestinian issue" can bring stability. Nato allies have taken different views on the Israel-Gaza war, with Spain, Slovenia and Norway recognising a Palestinian state while the US and Germany reject calls for an arms embargo on Israel.

At Nato headquarters, Slovenia's Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon warned that Gazans were dying due to famine and lack of medicine as she said her country was worried about a further Middle East escalation. She said the renewed fighting in Syria should be a wake-up call to the world to seek a political solution.

Canada's Melanie Joly said Iran should be held accountable for "spreading terror across the Middle East" and that it "cannot use its proxies to continue to do that, including in Iraq and including in Syria". Luxembourg said it could not support either President Bashar Al Assad's government or the rebel forces who overran Aleppo.

Allies were also preparing for Donald Trump's return to the White House amid doubts over continued US military support for Ukraine. The US president-elect said during his campaign that he would seek a swift peace deal, without specifying what concessions he would ask Kyiv to make.

Mr Rutte said more military aid for Ukraine was needed so that if its leadership decides to "enter into talks with the Russians one day, they will do this from a position of strength". However, he conceded that the front was "slowly moving westwards" as Russian troops go on the offensive.