NATO allies have "not yet agreed" on a long-term financial pledge for Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Jun 14 after a two-day meeting of the alliance's defense ministers in Brussels.
NATO officials rarely comment on the alliance's nuclear arsenal, but Jens Stoltenberg said the U.S. was modernizing its nuclear weapons stationed in Europe.
"I expect allies will agree on a leading role for NATO in coordinating and providing security assistance and training for Ukraine. I also expect allies will agree on a long-term financial pledge to provide military support," Stoltenberg said.
Diplomats of the Bucharest Nine (B9), a group of Eastern European NATO Allies, discussed a possibility of excluding Hungary from future meetings of the club, the Financial Times (FT) reported on June 11, citing people familiar with the talks.
On June 10, a Russian warplane violated Finnish airspace for the first time since Finland joined NATO last year.
NATO is considering to establish a permanent envoy position in Kyiv as part of its long-term commitment to Ukraine amid the ongoing war, Western officials and U.S. congressional aides familiar with the matter told Foreign Policy.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is scrapping plans to set up a $100 billion fund to aid Ukraine after facing rejection from alliance members, Bloomberg reported on June 7 citing people familiar with the matter.
June 6 marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, when the World War II Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy. As Western leaders commemorate the event that led to Europe’s liberation from fascism, they ought to keep in mind that just five years earlier, the French socialist and future fascist
Key developments on June 4: * Biden: Peace in Ukraine doesn't mean NATO membership * NATO 'land corridors' will rush US troops to front lines of any future European war, Telegraph reports * Ukraine's use of German weapons to strike Russia will not 'contribute to escalation,' Scholz says * Russian missile attack on
"Peace looks like making sure Russia never, never, never, never occupies Ukraine. That's what peace looks like. And it doesn't mean NATO," U.S. President Joe Biden said.
There is a saying in Poland that, “No one will die for Gdansk.” No matter what kind of security guarantees Poland gets from Western countries, most Poles believe that we will still have to fend for ourselves. After all, when the Nazis invaded in 1939, Poland had security guarantees from
Warnings that the Kremlin could attack a NATO country in the near future have increased in urgency in recent months. According to The Telegraph, U.S. troops and armor would land at one of five ports in the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Turkey or Norway from where they would travel through land corridors to NATO countries bordering Ukraine.
"At one point someone said it'll take 10 years (before Russia reconstitutes its offensive capacity), but I think we're back to less than 10 years because of the industrial base that is now running in Russia," said General Eirik Kristoffersen, Norway's top general.
Romania is considering equipping Ukraine with advanced Patriot defense systems to counter Russian attacks. However, President Klaus Iohannis clarified that such a decision would require an approval from an autonomous administrative authority responsible for coordinating national defense and security activities.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will ask NATO allies to provide a minimum of 40 billion euros ($43.3 billion) in annual military funding for Ukraine, a source within NATO told Reuters on May 30.
Air defense is a "major part of the plan to defend eastern Europe from invasion," a NATO diplomat told the Financial Times. "And right now, we don't have that."
France may announce its decision next week during a visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Reuters.
Partners assured Kyiv that the Washington summit would define a specific position for Ukraine's membership in NATO, namely its irreversibility and the roadmap toward it, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said on May 29.
NATO's July summit in Washington will contain new language regarding Ukraine's membership in the alliance, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said during a briefing in Prague on May 29, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko signed a law suspending Belarus's involvement in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), which was designed to establish limits on the number of arms and equipment in NATO and Warsaw Pact countries.
Ukraine will not advance further towards NATO membership at this year’s annual summit, The Telegraph reported on May 28, due to concerns that the alliance could be drawn into a war with Russia.
Key developments on May 27: * Ukrainian drone strikes Russian early-warning radar 1,800 kilometers away * France to send instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian soldiers, Syrskyi says * NATO Parliamentary Assembly supports Ukraine's right to hit targets inside Russia using Western arms * Ukraine, Spain sign bilateral security agreement * Russia claims capture
NATO allies should lift restrictions that prohibit Ukraine's use of Western-supplied weapons against military targets inside Russia, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly said in a declaration adopted on May 27.
Using publicly available data, consulting firm Bain & Company claims that Russian factories can produce or refurbish 4.5 million 152 mm shells for $1,000 per round this year. European countries and the U.S. are only expected to produce 1.3 million 155 mm shells combined at an average cost of $4,000 per unit.
"This is a completely new thing —a drone border from Norway to Poland, the purpose of which would be to protect our border with the help of drones and other technologies," said Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite.
The Russian military is waging "a serious and difficult war" against Ukraine, and its capabilities are "far exceeded" by NATO, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told public radio on May 24, according to news portal Telex.
The defense ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia met in the Lithuanian town of Palanga on May 22 and agreed on their key goals ahead of the upcoming NATO summit, including an allied commitment to invest at least 2.5% of GDP in defense.
The next Ramstein-format summit of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) will occur on May 20.
Some NATO member states are discussing the possibility of sending military instructors or contractors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian troops and assist with equipment repairs, the New York Times reported on May 16.
Echoing comments from President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said earlier in the day that the situation in Kharkiv Oblast was "difficult" but "under control," General Christopher Cavoli expressed confidence that Ukraine would be able to withstand the assault.
An autocratic regime like Russia can readily prioritize the expansion of its defense industries over economic well-being to sustain their military actions in Ukraine, along with help from Iran and North Korea, said Lt Gen. Steven L. Basham, U.S. Air Forces in Europe deputy commander.
President Volodymyr Zelensky extended congratulations, in a post on X, to Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova for her win in North Macedonia's presidential election.
