US first lady welcomed in Belgium with music and fashion

U.S. first lady Melania Trump returned to the international stage Wednesday as she mingled with the spouses of America's closest allies over classical music, fashion and chocolate.

As President Donald Trump harangued Germany and other allies at a NATO summit in Brussels, his wife chatted amiably with some of their spouses at a music conservatory in a wooded park in Waterloo, near the Belgian capital.

First lady Melania Trump, center, arrives with other first ladies during a group photo of NATO heads of state and government at Park Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

There, she and 10 other spouses were given a tour of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, a training center for gifted young musicians housed in a modernistic glass building.

Mrs. Trump, 48, wore a navy blue sleeveless Calvin Klein calf-length dress with white and green detail on one collarbone and white Christian Louboutin heels with their trademark red soles. Klein is an all-American fashion house, but its chief creative officer, Raf Simons, is Belgian.

Amelie Derbaudrenghien, the partner of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, second left, speaks with U.S. first lady Melania Trump, center, and French first lady Brigitte Macron, second right, during a group photo at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium, during a spouses program on the sidelines of the NATO summit on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

In the evening, she changed into a sleeveless white Elie Saab cocktail dress for a dinner at the Art and History Museum at the Cinquantenaire, a landmark city park.

Neither of the Trumps took a drink as they chatted with other heads of state at a cocktail reception, only hours after the U.S. president accused Germany of being "captive to Russia" for buying natural gas from that country and chided other allies for their levels of defense spending. The president does not drink alcohol.

First lady Melania Trump, center, extends her arms to help balance herself on stage as she arrives with other first ladies during a group photo of NATO heads of state and government at Park Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. NATO leaders gathered in Brussels Wednesday for a two-day summit to discuss Russia, Iraq and their mission in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Holding hands, the Trumps next walked up the steps of the museum, where the president joined leaders for a working dinner and the first lady joined a separate dinner for spouses.

The trip marked the former model's return to the international stage after she dropped out of public sight in May for nearly a month, including five days in the hospital following surgery for a benign kidney condition. Her husband later told reporters that she had had a "big operation" and was under doctors' orders not to fly for a month.

U.S. first lady Melania Trump, center, listens to a concert at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium, during a spouses program on the sidelines of the NATO summit on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Her office clarified that only international travel was forbidden for that period of time, and the first lady did not accompany the president to Canada for an earlier world leaders' summit or to Singapore for his historic one-on-one meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, both in the first half of June.

There was no word on how Mrs. Trump would spend her second day in Brussels. The couple travels next to Britain, where planned engagements include tea with Queen Elizabeth, and to Helsinki, Finland, where the U.S. president is to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Amelie Derbaudrenghien, the partner of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, left, U.S. first lady Melania Trump, center, and French first lady Brigitte Macron applaud during at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium, during a spouses program on the sidelines of the NATO summit on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

As the spouses arrived at the music academy in the early afternoon, they were greeted by Amelie Derbaudrenghien, the partner of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, and Ingrid Schulerud, the wife of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

They were then escorted into a music auditorium with tall glass windows offering views into the woods behind the school for performances of Tchaikovsky's Valse Scherzo and music by Hubay and Piazzolla.

President Donald Trump, right, and first lady Melania Trump, left, talk with German Chancellor Angela Merkel second from the left and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

During an intermission, they posed for a group photo, viewed a display of hats by Belgian designer Fabienne Delvigne and were offered delicacies created by Herman Van Dender, a pastry maker and chocolatier who is the official supplier to the Belgian royal house.

French First lady Brigitte Macron, left, and US First Lady Melania Trump arrive ahead of a NATO spouses dinner at Jubilee Museum in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. NATO leaders gathered in Brussels Wednesday for a two-day summit to discuss Russia, Iraq and their mission in Afghanistan. (Stephanie Lecocq/Pool Photo via AP)

Mrs. Trump sat between French first lady Brigitte Macron, who was dressed in white, and Derbaudrenghien, in vibrant yellow, during the concert. Other participating first ladies included Emine Erdogan of Turkey and Mojca Stropnik of Slovenia, Mrs. Trump's native country. Gauthier Destenay, the husband of Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, was the only man in the group.

At one point during the concert, Mrs. Trump and some of the others applauded prematurely. Catching themselves, they smiled and kept on listening.

TOKYO (AP) — The American envoy to the United Nations called Friday for countries armed with atomic weapons to pursue nuclear disarmament as she visited the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki, Japan.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who became the first U.S. cabinet member to visit Nagasaki, stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy amid a growing nuclear threat in the region.

“We must continue to work together to create an environment for nuclear disarmament. We must continue to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in every corner of the world,” she said after a tour of the atomic bomb museum.

“For those of us who already have those weapons, we must pursue arms control. We can and must work to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place to ever experience the horror of nuclear weapons,” she added, standing in front of colorful hanging origami cranes, a symbol of peace.

The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second attack three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.

Nagasaki Gov. Kengo Oishi said in a statement that he believed Thomas-Greenfield's visit and her first-person experience at the museum “will be a strong message in promoting momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international society at a time the world faces a severe environment surrounding atomic weapons.”

Oishi said he conveyed to the ambassador the increasingly important role of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in emphasizing the need of nuclear disarmament.

Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Japan comes on the heels of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States last week and is aimed at deepening Washington's trilateral ties with Tokyo and Seoul. During her visit to South Korea earlier this week, she held talks with South Korean officials, met with defectors from North Korea and visited the demilitarized zone.

The ambassador said the United States is looking into setting up a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine.

She said it would be “optimal” to launch the new system next month, though it is uncertain if that is possible.

The U.N. Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions, and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until last month, when Russia vetoed another renewal.

In its most recent report, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its weapons development.

The United States, Japan and South Korea have been deepening security ties amid growing tension in the region from North Korea and China.

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, speaks to Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, second right, as they wait for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, right, walk to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, talk prior to a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, prepare to talk during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)