Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter met today with Polish Minister of Defense Antoni Macierewicz at the NATO Defense Ministerial in Brussels, Belgium.
Secretary Carter thanked Minister Macierewicz for Poland's demonstration of leadership within NATO by meeting its Wales commitment to spend two percent of GDP on defense, and its plans for a robust defense modernization program.
They discussed the U.S. plan to quadruple funding for the European Reassurance Initiative, which calls for the persistent, rotational presence of U.S. forces in Poland in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
Secretary Carter and Minister Macierewicz also discussed the need for NATO to address the full spectrum of threats in both the East and the South, potential Polish contributions to the Counter-ISIL Campaign, and the importance of the U.S.-Poland bilateral defense relationship.