NATO leaders are expected to agree at an emergency summit on Thursday to boost the alliance’s military presence in eastern Europe due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says.
Ahead of the meeting, Stoltenberg told reporters at a news conference in Brussels on Wednesday that he expects the allies to sign off on the deployment of four new battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.
“I expect leaders will agree to strengthen NATO’s posture in all domains, with major increases in the eastern part of the alliance on land, in the air and at sea,” he said.
The new multinational battlegroups come on top of four existing combat units with roughly 5,000 troops operating in three Baltic states and Poland. They were deployed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Furthermore, the Russia’s war shows NATO must readjust its deterrence and defence posture for the long term, an issue the allies are expected to discuss at their next regular summit in June.
“The decisions we take tomorrow will have far reaching implications. Major reinforcements to our security will require major investments in defence,” Stoltenberg said.
“So I expect our allies will agree to redouble their efforts to invest more. There’s a new sense of urgency because we cannot take peace for granted.”
Leaders to talk support for Ukraine
Stoltenberg reiterated NATO’s position that the military alliance does not seek a conflict with Russia, and is doing all it can to prevent the war from spilling out of Ukraine.
However, he expects leaders to agree on further support for Ukraine, which has a right to defend itself.
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“Tomorrow, I expect allies will agree to provide additional support including cybersecurity assistance and equipment to protect Ukraine against chemical, biological and radiological and nuclear threats,” Stoltenberg said without providing details on the types of support.
“NATO will not send the troops into Ukraine. … It is extremely important to provide support to Ukraine and we are stepping up. But at the same time, it is also extremely important to prevent this conflict becoming a full-fledged war between NATO and Russia.”
He also expects leaders will agree to up support for allies under the threat of Russian aggression, like Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
China’s role on the agenda
Stoltenberg also said NATO leaders will address China’s role in the conflict.
The world’s second-largest economy has yet to denounce Russia’s war on Ukraine, and leaders in the West fear Beijing could offer support to Moscow.
“China has provided rational political support, including by spreading blatant lies and disinformation, and allies are concerned that China should provide material support for the Russian invasion,” Stoltenberg said.
“I expect leaders will call on China to live up to its responsibilities as a member of the UN Security Council: refrain from supporting Russia’s war effort and join the rest of the world in calling for an immediate, peaceful end to this war.”
Furthermore, NATO will target Belarus and will call for it to end its Russian support.
“Belarus has been complicit to this invasion from the start, actually before the start, because Belarus allowed its territory to be used as a ground for mobilizing massing troops that invaded Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.
“Belarus continues to enable the invasion by providing the territory, airfields, military infrastructure, bases, but also by allowing Russia to use Belarusian airspace to launch attacks every night, every day against Ukrainian cities, against Ukrainian civilians, against the Ukrainian nation.”
Russia’s war on Ukraine, which it began almost a month ago on Feb. 24, has stalled along most fronts. Russia has failed to capture a single major Ukrainian city, seize the capital Kyiv, or swiftly topple the government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Russia calls the war, which is the biggest attack on a European state since the Second World War, a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from “Nazis.”
The West describes it as a false pretext for an unprovoked war of aggression to subdue a country Russian President Vladimir Putin describes as illegitimate.
Peace talks have been ongoing throughout the war, but have yet to produce any breakthroughs.
Zelenskyy has pleaded for western nations to increase their assistance in the conflict, and will address the NATO summit on Thursday, Stoltenberg said.
— with files from Reuters.
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