2024-07-10 21:14:12
NATO allies support Ukraine “on an irreversible path towards full Euro-Atlantic integration,” they said joint statement published today by the 32 member countries, on the second day of their meeting in Washington. The Atlantic Alliance “will be in a position to extend an invitation” to the European country for acceptance “when the allies agree and the conditions are met,” such as an end to Russian aggression in its region.
“Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” the statement said: “Ukraine is increasingly politically and operationally into the Alliance. We welcome the real progress Ukraine has made since the Vilnius Conference in particular democratic, economic and security reforms. “
The Allies tightened their grip on China, which they accused of being a “facilitator” of the war.
The statement raised the issue against China, which it accused of being the “leader” of the war in Ukraine and considered a “challenge” to transatlantic security, and urged the country to stop all military and political support. for Russia for its duration. invasion The coalition made similar calls to Belarus, Iran and South Korea, which it considers close to the Kremlin because of their weapons supply. And he expressed concern about the rapid expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal, and its capabilities in space, and urged Beijing to enter into talks to reduce the risks.
In their roadmap for Ukraine’s admission to NATO after the war, member states will join forces to give Ukraine “essential powers for its identity,” Michael Carpenter, director for Europe at the US National Security Council, said. A brief statement to the press, indicating that the country’s integration will take place “when there is enough political will.”
Read again
Among these powers, 32 related countries “want to send” a total aid of 40 billion euros to Kyiv next year. The promise, contained in the statement, falls short of the multi-year aid proposed by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, but it sends a message of Western unity to Russia, two and a half years after the invasion of Ukraine, and two days after armed attack on civilian population, which attacked a pediatric hospital in kyiv. The attack killed at least 42 people across the country, 33 of them in the capital.
“We did not do this to prolong the war, on the contrary, we did it so that it ends as soon as possible,” Stoltenberg said in a press conference. An immediate cessation of hostilities in most of eastern Ukraine, “will not bring us peace, only work,” he said, “unless we want Ukraine to lose the war, we have to continue to show our commitment.”
Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO
“We are not sending aid to prolong the war, but to end it as soon as possible”
The military aid announced is in addition to the announcement made by US President Joe Biden in his speech commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Atlantic Alliance, yesterday at the Mellon House in Washington, the same place where the agreement was signed. His administration, along with four other member countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Italy) will send five anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as another SAMP-T type defense system.
Biden warned today, at the beginning of the North Atlantic Council meeting, of the need to “increase the institutional strength” of the alliance in the face of Russia’s return. “Each member state has plans to increase the production of weapons and ammunition,” he celebrated, “especially critical defense equipment.” The president recalled that when he came to power only nine countries in the partnership met the defense budget commitment of 2% of GDP and “today there are 23.” This increase, he emphasized, “is not by chance, but by choice.”
Spain is the country in the union that invests the lowest percentage of GDP in defense, 1.28%
Among the countries that meet the level set by NATO, Spain is not present, which is according to the data of the alliance in the country that invests the least, 1.28%. President Pedro Sánchez has decided to continue increasing military spending, in a brief statement to the press, before his participation in bilateral meetings with the Prime Ministers of Norway and Montenegro.
The NATO family has expanded since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is “stronger and more united than ever in history,” Biden said in his speech commemorating the merger. In the official photo of the conference, there are new faces today, such as the president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, and the Swede Ulf Kristersson, and the Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson or the new President of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer.
As in previous editions, this conference was also attended by the leaders of the Pacific countries that NATO considers “friends”: Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The North Atlantic Council will meet them tomorrow to discuss China’s military and expansionist ambitions, just before a planned meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Read again
At the transatlantic summit, there is no lack of dissident voice of Viktor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister, who met last week with Vladimir Putin and this Monday with Xi Jinping. His foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, has said that the possibility of Donald Trump returning to the White House after the November elections would be “an opportunity for peace in Ukraine.”
The Republican president, who rejects aid to Europe, has assured in his campaign events that, because of his good relationship with Putin, if he is president he will reach a peace agreement “one day” through negotiation with both parties. However, NATO’s position is that the country cannot negotiate directly with Russia while its troops are deployed in its country, because this would mean the termination of the region.
Allies, fearing the consequences of a Trump victory on November 5, want to expand relations with Kyiv in the long term, and will do so by creating an authority in Germany to guarantee the provision of economic and military aid. The position will have about 700 employees and will be led by a three-star NATO general, said Stoltenberg, who wanted to calm things down on the possible election of the Republican: “Trump did not ask to leave NATO, he asked only friends. that they invest more in security.”
Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO
“Trump doesn’t ask to leave NATO, he asks allies to invest more”
Ukrainian President Zelensky said yesterday that his country urgently needs help, more than promises, because “everyone is waiting for November, including Vladimir Putin.” Ukraine “can significantly limit Russian actions in the south and repel the attacks if the American leadership helps us,” said Zelensky, who called on Washington to send “necessary strike forces to the military and logistics in Ukraine.”
This afternoon, he met in the Capitol with the leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives, who have already approved $ 175 billion in aid to the country since it was invaded in February 2022. The United States Congress managed to win the blockade in May was ordered by the far-right, pressured by Trump, and approved three aid packages, worth 95 billion, for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific allies; Of these, 60.8 billion will go to weapons and economic aid for Ukraine.
Read again
#NATO #sees #annexation #Ukraine #irreversible