At a press conference before his departure, Biden highlighted the historic nature of the summit, which saw formal invitations to Sweden and Finland and promises to increase NATO resources on its eastern flank.
“This summit was about strengthening our union, meeting the challenges of our world as it is today, and the threats we will face in the future,” Biden said.
It is unclear whether any of the steps taken in response to the war in Ukraine during Europe’s meetings this week – new sanctions, more military aid and a strengthened NATO – could change the momentum on the battlefield that is currently in Russia’s favor. .
As Russia is mired in a long-running conflict of exhaustion, NATO leaders are leaving here after taking historic steps to deal with the fundamentally changed security situation. This gave the organization a renewed sense of purpose after years of hesitation about how to approach Russia.
The alliance is ready to grow after formally inviting Finland and Sweden to join. The road was cleared for both sides, each with a long history of military non-alignment, after Turkey rejected its objections, giving the summit a slightly unexpected boost at the outset.
Leaders have made significant improvements in the position of NATO forces on its eastern edge, increasing the number of alert troops sevenfold. Biden announced a new rotation of US troops in the Baltic states and Romania, new ships in Spain and planes for the United Kingdom, and for the first time a permanent headquarters of an army garrison in Poland.
After addressing the issue for years, NATO made it clear in its updated mission statement that Russia now posed “the most significant threat to Allied security.” And it mentions China for the first time, saying that the nascent partnership between Moscow and Beijing “contradicts our values.”
Taken together, the achievements represent a fundamental change for the alliance, which has been struggling for years to determine the best way to get closer to Russia. President Vladimir Putin, fearing the alliance’s expansion to the east, now faces a much more united collective.
“He wanted less NATO,” said Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg this week. “Now President Putin is getting more NATO on his borders.”
However, even an enlarged and more muscular NATO may not be enough to end the fighting in Ukraine.
While the fashion word at this week’s European summit was “unity,” private disagreements remain among leaders over the next phase of the war. While some insist on a decisive victory on the battlefield, others believe that more stable attempts should be made to mediate an agreement, especially against the background of the economic consequences at home.
“The consensus is that the war in Ukraine will continue for a long time,” US National Intelligence Director Avril Haynes told a conference on Wednesday, offering a grim assessment in the short term of what has become a deep conflict.
Haynes said Putin probably believes time is on Russia’s side because he believes the West will eventually tire of supporting Ukraine. “None of this portends a peaceful solution,” she said, acknowledging that the US assessment of the situation was “bleak.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on NATO leaders to help him regain the initiative during a speech at Wednesday’s summit, calling for more modern artillery and continued support in the fight against the Russians.
“The war should not drag on. To break the advantage of Russian artillery, we need much more than these modern systems, modern artillery, “Zelensky said.
Add Comment