![A historical look at NATO and its many challenges as Biden heads to summit on Ukraine](https://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2022/03/23/2a7ecfd4-3067-4021-9fa8-431b6d56ea1a/thumbnail/1200x630g2/072df4dd71ab19ddab2ed4fd3fcf9e0f/0323-ctm-natohistory-933051-640x360.jpg)
A historical look at NATO and its many challenges as Biden heads to summit on Ukraine
CBSN
As President Biden travels to Belgium to meet with NATO members about the war in Ukraine, he says the alliance is more united today than ever. The reason: Vladimir Putin.
NATO has never faced a test like this — a hot war in Europe that carries the threat of biological, chemical or even nuclear weapons. Though NATO is not defending a member nation, it has grown unified defending everything the alliance was created to preserve.
NATO grew out of World War II as a defensive alliance to shield Western Europe from the Soviet Union. America and Europe also wanted to contain Germany, the aggressor nation in both World Wars.
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Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a high-stakes meeting at this year's Munich Security conference to discuss the Trump administration's efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Vance said the U.S. seeks a "durable" peace, while Zelenskyy expressed the desire for extensive discussions to prepare for any end to the conflict.
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Washington — The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who hadn't yet gained civil service protection - potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.
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It was Labor Day weekend 2003 when Matt Scribner, a local horse farrier and trainer who also competes in long-distance horse races, was on his usual ride in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada foothills — just a few miles northeast of Auburn, California —when he noticed a freshly dug hole along the trail that piqued his curiosity.