US president-elect Joe Biden invited to Brussels in early 2021

US president-elect Joe Biden has been invited to a Nato summit in Brussels in early 2021, the organisation's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg has announced.

"I invited president-elect Joe Biden to a Nato summit here in Brussels early next year," Stoltenberg said, adding that such a meeting is "the best way for allies to meet, to sit (around a table)".

The summit is expected to bring together the heads of state and government of Nato’s 30 member countries, "to decide, in particular, on the future of the Alliance's adaptation to the new threats and challenges of the 21st century," Stoltenberg said.

The specific date of the meeting has not yet been decided and it remains to be seen how such a meeting can go ahead at this time of heightened health security.

The invitation from the Nato secretary general comes after a similar offer from European Council president Charles Michel who invited the president-elect to a summit between the 27 leaders of the European Union and the United States once Biden has been inaugurated as the 46th US president on 20 January.