- Turkey wins security promises from Finland and Sweden
- Russia will be called a “major threat” after the invasion of Ukraine
- “You will not win,” Spanish Sanchez said in a speech to Putin
- NATO summit for an agreement on more reinforcements for the Baltic states
- NATO to pay more attention to China’s military rise
MADRID, June 29 (Reuters) – Sweden and Finland appeared ready for quick NATO membership on Wednesday after Turkey lifted its veto on joining a summit at which the US-led alliance must adopt a broad strategy focused on Russia and Russia. China for the next decade.
Following talks in Madrid, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan negotiated a series of security measures with his Finnish and Swedish counterparts on Tuesday to allow the two Scandinavian countries to advance in their bid to join the US-led alliance.
“At the summit, we will decide to invite Sweden and Finland to become members,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the two countries, which lifted decades of neutrality to apply to join the alliance in mid-May.
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The agreement, hailed as Erdogan’s victory in the Turkish media, removed a major obstacle to Scandinavian accession. Their candidacy must now be approved by the parliaments of the Member States, a process that may take some time.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 gave a new impetus to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which was founded in 1949 to defend itself against the Soviet threat, following failures in Afghanistan and internal divisions during the era of former US President Donald. Trump.
“We are sending a strong message to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin: ‘You will not win,'” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a speech.
As a sign of Western momentum, the NATO summit, which began Tuesday night with a dinner at Spain’s royal palace, will welcome the leaders of non-NATO Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.
NATO is seeking closer ties with those countries to oppose China and Russia, which issued a joint statement in early February rejecting NATO enlargement in Europe and challenging the Western international order.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created a more united world in terms of democratic nations and a determination that is strong and clear. And I believe it will be decisive, “said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese before a think tank event on the periphery of the summit.
The Allies are ready to agree on NATO’s first new strategic concept – its master plan for a document – in a decade.
Russia will be identified as NATO’s “main threat” in the strategic concept, Spanish Sanchez said. Russia has previously been classified as a strategic partner of NATO.
NATO Heads of State and Government pose for a photo during a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, June 29, 2022. REUTERS / Susana Vera
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a “direct threat to our Western way of life,” added Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Cru, citing the wider impact of the war, such as rising energy and food prices.
The planning document will also cite China as a challenge for the first time, paving the way for the 30 allies to plan to transform Beijing from a good trading partner to a fast-growing competitor from the Arctic to cyberspace.
“MORE NATO”
Unlike Russia, whose war in Ukraine has raised serious fears in the Baltic states of an attack on NATO territory, China is not an adversary, NATO leaders say. But Stoltenberg has repeatedly called on Beijing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow says is a “special operation.”
At the summit, NATO must agree on a long-term support package for Ukraine, in addition to the already promised billions of dollars in arms and financial support.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the weapons would continue to be delivered to Kyiv, which is seeking help for supremacy over Russian artillery, especially in eastern Ukraine, where Russia is slowly advancing into a severe war of attrition.
“The message is: We will continue to do so – and do it intensively – as long as it is necessary to enable Ukraine to defend itself,” Scholz said.
The Western Alliance is also ready to agree with major allies such as the United States, Germany, Britain and Canada to offer troops, weapons and equipment to the Baltic states in advance and to step up training exercises. NATO is also seeking to have up to 300,000 troops ready for deployment in the event of a conflict, part of NATO’s expanded response force. Read more
Russia is doing the opposite of what Putin was looking for when he started his war in Ukraine, in part to oppose NATO enlargement, Western leaders say.
Both Finland, which has a 1,300-kilometer (810-mile) border with Russia, and Sweden, home of the founder of the Nobel Peace Prize, are now ready to deploy well-trained troops to NATO to give the alliance superiority in the Baltic Sea.
“One of President Putin’s most important messages … was that he was against any further enlargement of NATO,” Stoltenberg said Tuesday night. “He wanted less NATO. Now President Putin is getting more NATO on his borders.”
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Additional reports by Aislinn Laing, Belen Carreno, Humeyra Pamuk, Andrea Shalal, author of Robin Emmott; Edited by Frank Jack Daniel
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