The NATO summit started in the city of Newport, Wales.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening of the Summit.

Delegates from the NATO member states and ISAF partner countries, the UN and other international organizations participated in the event. Officials of the UN and European Union also joined the summit.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron welcomed President Ilham Aliyev and other heads of state and government.

Then, the heads of state and government posed together for photographs.

The agenda of the summit included the crisis in Ukraine, Afghanistan’s future, tackling new threats, strengthening support for the Armed Forces, strengthening partnerships, Iraq and Syria crisis.

Addressing the Summit’s meeting on Afghanistan, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen greeted the heads of state and government. It was noted that the meeting was an important event for achieving stability in the world faced with a number of threats. Saying that NATO had carried out the major part of its operations in Afghanistan, Rasmussen noted that ISAF forces continue to serve in this country.

He underlined that NATO had become the strongest alliance thanks to their contribution, adding that by the end of this year the protection of stability in Afghanistan would be fully in the hands local security forces and the support for Afghanistan would be continued. The Secretary General expressed his confidence that discussions on the agenda would be fruitful.

Then the participants paid tribute to the servicemen who died in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron expressed his satisfaction with the fact that the event is held in Wales. “NATO is an important alliance for our future,” he said. David Cameron thanked the countries for joining the ISAF program and contributing to the security of Afghanistan. He noted that NATO successfully ends its mission in Afghanistan and is proud of the results of the army build-up in this country.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the summit.

The summit will last until 5 September. The next stage of cooperation with Australia, Georgia, Jordan, Finland and Sweden will be discussed at the summit.

The previous summit was held in Chicago in 2012.