French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that he stood by his recent statement on NATO where he described the long-time coalition as suffering from "brain death" in part due to lack of United States' leadership under President Donald Trump.
"I know that my statements created some reaction. I do stand by [them]," CNN reported Macron as saying at a joint press conference in London alongside Trump, who had described the French President's statement as "nasty" and "insulting".
North Atlantic Treaty Orgsation, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance among 29 North American and European countries.
Macron had made the comment back in November as he criticised the lack of coordination between NATO members over Turkey's recent operation in Syria.
Speaking in London on Monday alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump said that Macron's assessment was "insulting to a lot of different forces."
The US President, who has repeatedly criticised NATO member states arguing that the US contributes a disproportionate amount to help the alliance as compared to other member nations, said the alliance was more "flexible" and serves "a great purpose."
Several world leaders are in the English capital for a NATO meeting celebrating 70 years of the alliance.
( With inputs from ANI )