NATO's agenda: Stop ISIS, contain Putin

As world leaders wrap up a two-day NATO summit in Wales, U.S. President Barack Obama laid out the organization’s plans to tackle two major threats to international security: ISIS in Iraq and Russia in Ukraine.

At a news conference at the end of the summit, Obama said ISIS, also called Islamic State or ISIL, has an ideology of “extremist nihilism” and is a “savage organization” that must be stopped.

To that end, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with leaders from nine other nations at the NATO summit to forge an international alliance against ISIS. One of the group’s main goals will be to try to cut off the terrorists’ financial resources, the other to provide military support to Iraq as it fights the group. The NATO allies hope to have a plan ready in time for the United Nations’ General Assembly meeting this month.

One decision the allies must ultimately make is how to handle the Syrian government. ISIS was born out of the Syrian civil war, and President Bashar al-Assad also has an interest in defeating the group. But defeating ISIS could mean engaging the al-Assad regime, something no Western nation wants to do because of Syria’s close ties with Iran. Kerry said at a briefing there are obviously “implications about Syria in this” and suggested the nations could discuss that later.

The ISIS problem was a late addition to the NATO conference, where the main goal was to develop a strategy to support Ukraine in its defense against Russian-backed rebels. As NATO leaders met, the Ukrainian government brokered a ceasefire with the separatist groups. Obama credited Western allies’ economic sanctions against Russia with getting the rebels to the negotiating table, but he also expressed skepticism that the ceasefire would last.

In the meantime, NATO plans to create a rapid-response military force in eastern Europe that could strike back quickly against any “potential aggressor”—read, Russia. Following Russia’s occupation and annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea over the summer, many former Soviet nations fear they could be next.

“Should you even think of attacking one ally, you will be facing the whole alliance,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen declared as the summit drew to a close.

WORLD has published a list of aid agencies assisting displaced Christians in Iraq.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.