BRUSSELS (NewsNation Now) — President Joe Biden said NATO will stand firm against alleged Russian and Chinese efforts to drive a wedge between members of the alliance. Biden spoke Monday at the end of a NATO summit in Brussels that focused in part on challenges from those two countries.

Biden’s comments at the press conference focused partly on what he called “aggressive hacks” by Russia, and other “malicious cyberactivity.”

Biden is calling NATO “a strong foundation” for continued building of security for the 30 member countries.

Meanwhile, two days from his Wednesday meeting with Russia’s leader, President Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin a “worthy adversary” but declined to say how he’ll measure the success of the meeting in advance.

Asked during the press conference about the upcoming meeting, Biden wouldn’t offer any specifics on what he’s hoping to gain from his time with Putin, saying only that they’ll discuss “areas where we can cooperate,” and a warning that if Russia refuses to cooperate on things like cybersecurity “we will respond in kind.”

Biden said, however, that Putin is “bright” and “tough” and expressed hopes the Russian president would show interest in “changing the perception the world has of him.”

The meeting ended with a communique expressing strong concern about China as an alleged security challenge and threat to world order.

The president began his day meeting with leaders of the Baltic states on NATO’s eastern flank regarding the “threat posed by Russia,” China and the recent air piracy in Belarus. He also meet with NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Stoltenberg has described the summit as a “pivotal moment.”

Biden’s itinerary in Europe has been shaped so that he would first gather with Group of Seven leaders for a three-day summit on the craggy shores of Cornwall and then with NATO allies in Brussels before his much-anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on Wednesday.

At the G-7, leaders sought to convey that the club of wealthy democracies — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — is a better friend to poorer nations than authoritarian rivals such as China and Russia.

The G-7 meeting ended with a communique that called out forced labor practices and other human rights violations impacting Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in the western Xinjiang province. The president declined to discuss private summit negotiations over the provision, but said he was “satisfied” with the communique, although differences remain among the allies about how forcefully to call out Beijing.

Biden was focused on building a more cohesive bond between America and allies.

The last administration was at odds with some leading NATO members, including Britain, Germany and France, over Trump’s 2018 decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement that was brokered during the Obama administration. The accord limited Iran’s uranium enrichment program in exchange for an easing of sanctions.

Trump and other critics felt the deal gave Tehran too many economic benefits without doing enough to prevent Iran from eventually developing a nuclear weapon. The Biden administration is now seeking a path to resurrecting the accord.

The U.S. and the alliance are also winding down their involvement in the war in Afghanistan.

The military effort followed the 2001 arrival of a U.S.-led coalition that ousted the Taliban for harboring al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The nearly 20-year war killed tens of thousands of Afghans and more than 3,500 U.S. and allied troops.

For now, NATO plans to leave civilian advisers to help build up government institutions. It’s unclear who will protect them. The alliance is also weighing whether to train Afghan special forces outside the country.

NATO members are also expected to endorse the creation of a new cyber defense policy to improve coordination with countries impacted by the increasing frequency of ransomware attacks, a climate security action plan to reduce greenhouse gases from military activities in line with national commitments under the Paris Agreement and a commitment to strengthen NATO’s deterrence to meet threats from Russia and elsewhere, according to the White House.

Biden was also scheduled to meet with Turkey’s President, Erdogan, on Monday on the sidelines of the summit.

Biden has known Erdogan for years but their relationship has frequently been contentious. Biden, during his campaign, drew ire from Turkish officials after he described Erdogan as an “autocrat.” In April, Biden infuriated Ankara by declaring that the Ottoman-era mass killing and deportations of Armenians was “genocide” — a term that U.S. presidents have avoided using.

The two leaders were expected to discuss Syria and Iran as well as what role Turkey can play on Afghanistan following the U.S. troop withdrawal, according to the White House. Also on the agenda: how Washington and Ankara “deal with some of our significant differences on values and human rights and other issues,” Sullivan said.

The unsettled security situation in Libya, as well as overlapping concerns on China and Russia are also expected to be discussed.

All reporting by the Associated Press and Reuters. Reporting by AP’s Jonathan Lemire, Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller and Reuter’s Robin Emmott, Steve Holland and Sabine Siebold.