BRUSSELS: United States (US) President Donald Trump and NATO, both agreed on the need for dialogue with Russia from a position of strength, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday. Trump has badly rattled Europe with his softer line on Moscow, calling into question Washington’s near-70 year commitment to an alliance he dubbed ‘obsolete’ and an unfair burden on the US taxpayer. But, Stoltenberg said that in recent phone conversations with Trump and US Defence Secretary James Mattis, “they all conveyed the same message that the United States remains committed to NATO and the transatlantic bond.” “The new administration’s message is that they also want dialogue with Russia but from a position of strength,” Stoltenberg told reporters after meeting with the Bulgarian President Rumen Radev at NATO headquarters in Brussels. NATO leaders in July last year signed off on the alliance’s biggest military build-up since the end of the Cold War in response to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea. At the same time, they endorsed dialogue with ‘a more assertive’ Russia to ensure transparency and to avoid any dangerous misunderstandings at a time of increased tensions. Radev, seen as more sympathetic to Moscow than his predecessor, highlighted the fact that he had chosen NATO headquarters for his first visit abroad since taking office. “NATO remains an extremely important organisation to safeguard the allies, we support NATO’s efforts to defend and deter and we believe that Bulgaria is part of these efforts,” he said.