The world faces a "generational struggle" against the threat of Islamist extremism, and ISIS should be "squeezed out of existence," British Prime Minister David Cameron told CNN on Thursday ahead of a NATO summit in Wales, reports GHN based on CNN.
The two-day summit, billed as the most important gathering of NATO leaders in more than a decade, comes at a time of global turmoil.
Also on the packed agenda for the 28-member NATO alliance are the challenge posed by Russia's actions in Ukraine and NATO's future role in Afghanistan.
"Russia's aggression against Ukraine has been a wake-up call," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday.
"It has ... reminded all of us that our freedom, security and prosperity cannot be taken for granted, that some are trying to redraw dividing lines in Europe with force and in blood."
The current dangers mean this "is a critical summit at a critical time," he said, requiring leaders to "forge a stronger NATO for a more complex and chaotic world."
The transatlantic defense bloc must adapt to meet new challenges, he said, including a reemerging threat from the east that will require the repositioning of NATO forces.
"We will adopt a readiness action plan that will make our forces faster, fitter and more flexible, ready to address any challenges whenever they come and from wherever they come."
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met with U.S. President Barack Obama, Cameron and the leaders of Germany, France and Italy over the crisis in his country before the summit started.