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Creation of the Defense Council between NATO and Ukraine as an equal member
David Vergon reported Pentagon that NATO plans to invite Ukraine to join a new defense council between NATO andUkraine . As an equal member, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a June 16 press conference in Brussels.
Stoltenberg said details of the council would be announced next month at a summit NATO In Vilnius, Lithuania.
Stoltenberg said NATO is also focusing on a path to rapprochement Ukraine member of the Alliance. He said NATO has an open-door policy regarding membership, and Russia cannot influence that decision. Stoltenberg added that Sweden would also be welcomed into the alliance – hopefully very soon.
NATO’s defense spending minimum
Leaders agreed NATO However, the minimum defense spending for member states will be 2% of GDP. Stoltenberg said that this figure will not be the ceiling. That means he hopes states will cross the 2% mark to keep people safe in an increasingly dangerous world.
Russian President Putin said that NATO condemns Russia’s reckless nuclear rhetoric and plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Russia Belarus . A decision said to have already been partially implemented, with the last nuclear warheads being sent to Belarus by the end of next July.
Jens Stoltenberg said NATO Also worried about China’s nuclear expansion and North Korea’s missile tests.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III extended support provided for Ukraine and modernization and standardization of munitions for the benefit of interoperability. between NATO and Ukraine. In fact, leaders at the meeting agreed to boost defense production, munitions standardization, and interoperability. For command and control between NATO countries and Ukraine.
He said a minimum of 2% of GDP for defense spending by members NATO will help ensure . Increasing collective defense and deterrence will result in forces at much higher levels of readiness.
Austin said Sweden’s NATO membership will also be discussed at the summit next month.
Besides collective European security, Austin said NATO It also aims to deepen partnerships with countries in the Indo-Pacific to ensure a free and open region.
Reasons for the formation of NATO
The ATO was formed in 1949, at the height of the Cold War, as a response to the establishment of puppet governments loyal to the Soviet Union. in Eastern Europe. In fact, it was about protecting post-war European democracies from Stalin’s expansionism.
Then the organization included Belgium, Canada, Denmark andFrance Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom. And the United States. As of 2022, NATO consists of 30 countries.
NATO is a defensive alliance that protects its members from foreign aggression. Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which establishes the idea of collective defense. Crucial in this situation: an attack on a member state is an attack on all. Therefore, the threat of force against a NATO member state is significantly reduced: no one wants to deal with the combined forces of 30 countries at once.
And for decades, Ukraine has not set itself the goal of joining NATO. When Presidents Kravchuk and Kuchma were in office, the “multi-vector” concept was backed by the security guarantees of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which included assurances from Russia.
However, the conflicts provoked by Russia in Transnistria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia have gradually come to light. It shall be Ukraine Join the defensive alliance in order to avoid being left alone in the face of Russia.
Currently, Join is supported Ukraine to NATO by the vast majority of the country’s population. And according to a poll conducted by the rating group on March 1, 76% of Ukrainians support this decision.
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