ROME, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store expressed criticism over U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks suggesting that non-U.S. NATO troops had stayed off the front lines in Afghanistan.

In a statement on Saturday, Meloni recalled that following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, NATO activated Article 5 for the first and only time in its history in an act of solidarity with the United States.

"Italy responded immediately together with its allies, deploying thousands of military personnel and assuming full responsibility for Regional Command West, one of the most significant operational areas of the entire international mission," the statement said.

According to Meloni, Italy paid "an unquestionable price," with 53 soldiers killed and more than 700 injured in combat operations, security missions and training programs for Afghan forces in nearly 20 years.

For this reason, statements that minimize the contribution of NATO countries in Afghanistan are unacceptable, especially when they come from an allied nation, the statement said.

For his part, Store echoed that Trump's remarks were "disrespectful."

"The fallen, their survivors and those who served in Afghanistan deserve to be addressed with truth and respect," Store wrote in a statement posted on Facebook. "The statement made by the U.S. president is disrespectful. I understand that both veterans and relatives react strongly to this."

Trump told Fox Business on Thursday that the United States had never needed non-U.S. soldiers during the war in Afghanistan, who "stayed a little back, little off the front lines." ■