NATO ministers celebrate 70th anniversary amid rifts

NATO foreign ministers met Thursday to celebrate the alliance's 70th anniversary amid rifts between members over security and trade issues.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo opened the meeting with an appeal for unity to confront "great power" challenges from Russia, China and Iran. He hailed NATO's deterrence of the Soviet Union during the Cold War and said the alliance was well positioned to move forward even as it confronts new and evolving challenges.

But a deepening dispute with Turkey over its planned purchase of a Russian air defense system and US demands for allies, particularly Germany, to boost their defense spending threatened to overshadow the proceedings.

"We have rightly sought peace through strength here at NATO," Pompeo said. "We must continue to do so, especially in this new era of great power competition from Russia, from China, and the Islamic...