Tag: nato

NATO allies must do more as Ukraine runs out of ammunition: Stoltenberg | Russia-Ukraine war News

NATO’s secretary-general calls on members to show the political will to offer more support for Kyiv against Russia.

Ukraine is running out of ammunition and NATO members are not doing enough to help Kyiv, the alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said, in unusually blunt comments about the state of the war.

“Unprecedented aid from NATO allies has helped Ukraine survive as an independent nation. But Ukraine needs even more support and they need it now,” Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday.

“The Ukrainians are not running out of courage, they are running out of ammunition,” he said.

More than two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s military has recently been grappling with significantly reduced weapons supplies from the West.

“NATO allies are not providing Ukraine with enough ammunition and that has consequences on the battlefield every day,” Stoltenberg said.

“It is one of the reasons why the Russians have been able to make some advance on the battlefield over the last weeks and months.

“It is an urgent need for allies to make the decisions necessary to step and provide more ammunition to Ukraine. That’s my message to all capitals.

“We have the capacity, the economies, to be able to provide Ukraine what they need. This is a question of political will. To take the decisions and to prioritise support for Ukraine.”

Stoltenberg presents the 2023 NATO annual report [Virginia Mayo/AP Photo]

The US on Tuesday announced a new $300m weapons package for Ukraine, but a further $60bn in funding remains stalled by Republicans in Congress.

On Wednesday, European Union countries agreed to provide five billion euros ($5.48bn) for military aid to Ukraine as part of a revamp of an EU-run assistance fund.

However, the bloc is well behind schedule in its promise, made last year, to send a million artillery shells to Ukraine by this month.

The Czech Republic has led an 18-nation coalition buying artillery shells from outside Europe, and this month Prague announced that the first of 300,000 shells could reach Kyiv within weeks.

EU leaders will meet at a Brussels summit next week to discuss initiatives aimed at boosting Europe’s weapons industry.

Meanwhile, Russia has ramped up its domestic arms production by putting its economy on a war footing and has received major deliveries of weapons from Iran and North Korea.

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Sweden officially joins NATO alliance, ending decades of neutrality | NATO News

The Nordic nation applied to join the military alliance in May 2022, but faced delays from Turkey and Hungary.

Sweden has officially joined the NATO military alliance, ending decades of neutrality amid soaring concerns about Russia’s aggression in Europe following its invasion of Ukraine.

“Unity and solidarity will be Sweden’s guiding lights as a NATO member,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a statement delivered in Washington, DC after a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“We will share burdens, responsibilities and risks with our allies,” he said.

“Good things come to those who wait,” Blinken said as he received Sweden’s accession documents.

“This is a historic moment for Sweden, for our alliance and for the transatlantic relationship,” Blinken said.

At a press conference in Stockholm on Thursday, Sweden’s Minister for Employment and Integration Johan Pehrson labelled the accession “a new security policy era for Sweden”, adding that he had personally been waiting for such a decision for 20 years.

Fears of Russian military threat

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, sparked Sweden and its neighbour Finland – which shares a 1,340km (832-mile) border with Russia – to apply to join NATO.

“We have to face the world as it is not how we sometimes wish it were,” Kristersson said after Hungary became the last NATO member to ratify Sweden’s accession last week.

Sweden’s lack of military preparedness was revealed in 2013 when Russian bomber planes flew across the Gulf of Finland close to the Swedish island of Gotland in what was believed to be simulated nuclear attacks. Stockholm needed the support of NATO jets to ward the Russian planes away from its airspace.

The next year there were reports that a Russian submarine was operating in the Stockholm archipelago.

Seamstress Tove Lycke works on NATO flags, at the flag manufacturer Flagghuset, in Akersberga, outside Stockholm, Sweden, March 7, 2024 [TT News Agency/Anders Wiklund via Reuters]

Sweden’s shift away from a neutral stance

While Stockholm has been drawing ever closer to NATO over the last two decades, membership marks a clear break with the past, when for more than 200 years, Sweden avoided military alliances and adopted a neutral stance in times of war.

After World War II, it built an international reputation as a champion of human rights, and when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, successive governments pared back military spending.

As recently as 2021, its defence minister had rejected NATO membership, only for the then-Social Democrat government to apply, alongside neighbour Finland, just a few months later.

While Finland joined last year, Sweden was kept waiting as Turkey and Hungary delayed ratifying Sweden’s accession.

Turkey approved Sweden’s application in January.

Hungary delayed its move until Kristersson made a visit to Budapest on February 23, during which the two countries agreed on a fighter-jet deal.

Sweden adds cutting-edge submarines and a sizeable fleet of domestically produced Gripen fighter jets to NATO forces and would be a crucial link between the Atlantic and Baltic.

Russia has threatened to take unspecified “political and military-technical counter-measures” in response to Sweden’s move.

A Swedish Air Force Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet, July 4, 2023 [File: Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters]



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Russia-Ukraine two years on: towards an endless and wider war? | Russia-Ukraine war

In an UpFront special, we discuss where the war in Ukraine currently stands and where it is heading.

It’s been two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, causing mass destruction and a mounting civilian death toll.

Even with support from the West, Ukraine is facing increased weapons and infantry shortages as its fight against Russian forces carries on, seemingly with no end in sight.

So what future lays ahead for Ukraine and could the war spill over into neighbouring countries? Are peace negotiations even possible or does it run the risk of becoming an endless war?

In an UpFront Special, Marc Lamont Hill discusses the fallout of Russia’s war on Ukraine with Ukrainian Member of Parliament Lesia Vasylenko, political scientist Ilya Matveev, and journalist Aaron Mate.

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Hungary, Sweden sign fighter jet deal before NATO membership vote | NATO News

Hungary, the last NATO country to approve Sweden’s membership bid, will hold a parliamentary vote on Monday.

Hungary has signed a deal to buy four fighter jets from Sweden, as Budapest finally prepares to approve Stockholm’s bid to join NATO after nearly two years of delays.

“We not only keep our air defence capability but will increase it,” Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a news conference alongside Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Friday of the agreement to buy four Saab JAS Gripen fighter jets.

This “means our commitment to NATO will strengthen and so will our participation in NATO’s joint operations,” Orban added. Hungary will also expand a related logistics contract. It currently leases Gripen aircraft under a contract signed in 2001.

Kristersson welcomed the deal and said that “the conversation has been constructive, and we have agreed to move forward in fields of common interests”.

“We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that we should work more actively together when we have common ground,” he added.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Budapest, Hungary, February 23, 2024 [Bernadett Szabo/Reuters]

Hungary, the final country to approve Sweden’s bid to join the transatlantic military alliance, will hold a vote in parliament on Monday after Turkey’s ratification last month.

The delay in ratifying Sweden’s NATO application soured Budapest’s relations with the United States and raised concerns among its allies.

Sweden sought to join the military alliance in 2022 along with Finland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Finland became the 31st member of the alliance last April, which doubled the length of NATO’s border with Russia. It also strengthened the defences of three small Baltic countries that joined the bloc after the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.

Earlier Friday, Orban told state radio that “some pending [bilateral] military and arms issues” had to be resolved before the vote.

“We are pro-peace, and the Swedes are pro-war in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,” Orban said. adding the “clear differences in values” could be bridged.

Sweden, which has a long coastline on the Baltic Sea, could become a vital logistics hub for NATO in Northern Europe if it manages to join the bloc.

Military non-alignment had once been a point of pride for Swedes, with a clear majority against NATO membership, which changed once the Ukraine war started.

Sweden has already regularly participated in NATO exercises in the region.

Orban, who had maintained close economic ties with Russia, had repeatedly delayed Sweden’s ratification citing grievances over Stockholm’s criticism of the rule of law and the state of democracy in Hungary.

The Hungarian leader, who has also refused to send weapons to Ukraine and slammed Western sanctions against Russia, urged for a ceasefire earlier on Friday.

He said a truce was the only solution as “Russia cannot be forced on its knees in the military sense … This conflict [in Ukraine] has no solution on the battleground”.

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US, European powers back outgoing Dutch PM Mark Rutte as next NATO head | NATO News

Support of top NATO powers makes Rutte favourite to succeed current Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in October.

The United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany have all thrown their weight behind outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to become NATO’s next secretary general, at a crucial time for the alliance as Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on.

Top NATO powers on Thursday backed Rutte to succeed current chair Jens Stoltenberg when he steps down in October, putting him in a strong position to win the leadership of the transatlantic alliance.

Stoltenberg’s successor will take office at a crucial juncture, tasked with sustaining NATO members’ support for Ukraine’s costly defence while guarding against any escalation that would draw the alliance directly into a war with Moscow.

“The United States has made it clear to our allies, our NATO allies, that we believe Mr Rutte would be an excellent secretary general for NATO,” US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told journalists on Thursday.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said the UK “does strongly back” Rutte, adding that the UK wanted a candidate who would “keep NATO strong and deliver on the alliance’s NATO 2030 vision”.

The British Foreign Office also said Rutte was a well-respected figure across NATO, with serious defence and security credentials and who would ensure it remained strong and prepared for any need to defend itself.

A senior French official told the Reuters news agency that President Emmanuel Macron had been an early supporter of putting Rutte in the role. And German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said on X that Rutte had Berlin’s backing, praising him as “an outstanding candidate”.

Diplomats have said Rutte is the only official candidate for the post in the behind-the-scenes contest, although some said the name of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis had also been floated in informal discussions recently. Other candidates may include Estonian Primer Minister Kaja Kallas and Latvia’s foreign minister, Krisjanis Karins.

But with the support of Washington – the alliance’s predominant power – and the three big European nations and some 16 other NATO members, according to diplomats, Rutte is in a commanding position.

However, some analysts believe he could face opposition from Turkey and Hungary.

‘Interesting’ job

After ruling himself out for the NATO post in previous years, Rutte, 57, told Dutch media in October that running the military alliance was a “very interesting” job and he would be open to the prospect.

The Netherlands’ longest-serving leader, Rutte has had good relationships with various British, European Union and US leaders – including Donald Trump – during his tenure.

Set to run for a second term as US president later this year, Trump drew fierce criticism from Western officials earlier this month for calling into question his commitment to defending NATO allies if re-elected.

At the weekend, Rutte urged European leaders to “stop moaning and whining and nagging” about Trump and focus instead on what they could do to bolster defence and help Ukraine.

Founded in 1949 to counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War, NATO is a political and military alliance of countries from North America and Europe.

NATO leaders are appointed by consensus, meaning all members must consent to a final decision. The alliance currently has 31 members, with Sweden poised to join soon.



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Hungary could ratify Sweden’s NATO membership in February: PM Orban | NATO News

Budapest is the only NATO member yet to ratify Stockholm’s membership to the world’s largest military alliance.

The Hungarian parliament can ratify Sweden’s NATO membership when it convenes for its new session later this month, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has told his supporters.

“It’s good news that our dispute with Sweden will soon be settled,” Orban said in his state-of-the-nation address on Saturday in Budapest.

“We are going in the direction that at the start of parliament’s spring session we can ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO.”

Orban highlighted that he and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson had taken steps “to rebuild trust” between the two countries. But he did not say what those steps were.

Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022 in a historic shift in policy prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Hungary is the only NATO country not yet to have ratified Sweden’s application, a process that requires the backing of all NATO members.

Turkey was the only other NATO holdout, but the Turkish parliament voted to approve Swedish membership last month.

Earlier this month, lawmakers from Hungary’s governing Fidesz party boycotted an emergency parliament session in which a vote on Sweden’s bid to join NATO was on the agenda.

Fidesz cited what it called unfounded Swedish allegations that it has eroded democracy in Hungary as the reason why Sweden’s NATO bid had been held up.

Hungarian officials have also indicated that Fidesz lawmakers won’t support holding a vote on Sweden’s NATO bid until Kristersson accepts an invitation by Orban to visit Budapest to negotiate the matter.

On Wednesday, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said his country hoped that Hungary would soon ratify its accession to NATO, removing the last obstacle to its membership.

Billstrom reiterated there would be no negotiations on the ratification despite Orban inviting Kristersson to “negotiate” Sweden’s accession.

“There is nothing to negotiate, if there is a visit, it’s not going to be a negotiation, that has been made very clear by my prime minister,” the Swedish foreign minister said earlier this week.

The delay in ratifying Sweden’s NATO application has also soured Budapest’s relations with the United States and raised concerns among its allies.

US Senator Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat and chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also raised the prospect of imposing sanctions on Hungary for its conduct and called Orban “the least reliable member of NATO”.

Orban, who has better ties with Russia than other EU states and most NATO members, has repeatedly said his government backs Sweden joining the alliance, but the legislation has been stranded in the Hungarian parliament since mid-2022.

The Hungarian Parliament is scheduled to reconvene on February 26.

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Biden slams Trump criticism of NATO as ‘shameful’ and ‘un-American’ | NATO News

The Republican frontrunner had questioned the United States’ willingness to support its NATO allies if they were attacked.

United States President Joe Biden has condemned comments about NATO by his likely 2024 election opponent and former President Donald Trump as “dangerous” and “un-American”, and said they raised the stakes for the US Congress to approve new funding to support Ukraine.

Speaking at the White House, the Democratic president on Tuesday criticised Trump’s comment over the weekend calling into question the US’s willingness to support members of the Western defence alliance if they were attacked.

Biden said the comments by Trump, the Republican frontrunner in the presidential race, made it more urgent that Congress pass his long-stalled funding request to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.

“The stakes were already high for American security before this bill was passed in the Senate,” he said. “But in recent days, those stakes have risen. And that’s because the former president has sent a dangerous, and shockingly, frankly un-American signal to the world.”

At a rally in the state of South Carolina on Saturday Trump blasted what he called “delinquent” payments by NATO members and recounted what he said was a past conversation with the head of “a big country” about a potential attack by Russia.

“No, I would not protect you. In fact I would encourage them [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay,” Trump claimed he told the unnamed leader.

Biden said Trump’s remarks amounted to an invitation to Russia to invade US allies.

“Can you imagine a former president of the United States saying that? The whole world heard it. And the worst thing is he means it,” Biden said.

“No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Well, let me say this as clearly as I can: I never will.”

In remarks calling for Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring a Senate-passed $95.34bn military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to a vote in the House of Representatives, Biden said of Trump’s comments: “For God’s sake, it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American.”

Failing to support Ukraine war funding would amount to support for Vladimir Putin, Biden said, adding that the Russian president’s attacks may move beyond Ukraine’s borders deeper into Europe.

NATO, a military alliance of 29 European and two North American countries, has a provision in its statute that says it must defend any member that is attacked.

This is not the first time Trump has criticised the alliance.

When president, Trump threatened to pull the US out of NATO. He also suggested he could cut Washington’s funding of the organisation, and repeatedly complained that the US pays more than it should.

As the war in Ukraine nears its second year, concerns have mounted over the ramifications of a potential Trump victory in November.

While Ukraine is not a NATO member, the alliance has served as a key contributor to the US-organised effort to support Kyiv’s military defences.

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Stoltenberg criticises Trump’s NATO comments | NATO News

The NATO chief said that any attack on the military alliance will be met with a ‘united’ response.

Top Western officials have criticised former United States President Donald Trump after he suggested the US might not protect NATO allies who aren’t spending enough on defence from a potential Russian invasion.

“Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a written statement.

“Any attack on NATO will be met with a united and forceful response,” he added.

On Saturday, at a political rally in South Carolina in the US, Trump, who is likely to be the Republican nominee in this year’s US presidential election, had said that as president, he warned NATO allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent”.

Trump’s remarks come as Ukraine remains mired in its efforts to stave off Russia’s 2022 invasion and as Republicans in the US Congress have become increasingly sceptical of providing additional aid money to the country as it struggles with stalled counteroffensives and weapons shortfalls.

Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz also weighed in on Trump’s comments.

“NATO’s motto ‘one for all, all for one’ is a concrete commitment. Undermining the credibility of allied countries means weakening the entire NATO,” he wrote on social media platform X.

European Council President Charles Michel said: “Reckless statements on #NATO’s security and Art 5 solidarity serve only [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s interest.”

Article 5 of the NATO treaty says that an armed attack against an alliance member will be considered an attack against them all, triggering collective self-defence.

During the political rally on Saturday, Trump appeared to recount a meeting with NATO leaders, and quoted the president of “a big country” that he did not name as asking, “Well sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia – will you protect us?”

“I said: ‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’ He said: ‘Yes, let’s say that happened.’ No, I would not protect you. In fact I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay.”

“We have heard that before … Nothing new under the sun”, said EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton in an interview with France’s LCI television, adding:

“He maybe has issues with his memory. It was actually a female president, not of a country, but of the European Union,” Breton said, referring to European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and a conversation she had with Trump in 2020.

“We cannot flip a coin about our security every four years depending on this or that election, namely the US presidential election,” Breton said, adding EU leaders understood the bloc needed to boost its own military spending and capacities.

Asked about Trump’s comments, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said: “Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged – and it endangers American national security, global stability and our economy at home.”

In a statement issued on Saturday, Bates said current US President Joe Biden, a Democrat seeking re-election in November, had restored US alliances after taking office in 2021, ensuring that NATO was now “the largest and most vital it has ever been”.

“Rather than calling for wars and promoting deranged chaos, President Biden will continue to bolster American leadership and stand up for our national security interests – not against them,” Bates said.



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Swedish PM Kristersson agrees to meet Hungary’s Orban for talks on NATO bid | NATO News

After ratification by Turkey, Hungary is the only country left effectively holding up Sweden’s NATO membership.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has agreed to meet his counterpart from Hungary, the only NATO member yet to ratify his country’s membership in the military alliance.

Swedish public television on Thursday published a letter Kristersson penned to Prime Minister Viktor Orban in which he said he accepted an invitation received this week to meet in Budapest “at a time convenient for both of us”.

“The completion of the ratification process of Sweden’s NATO membership in the Hungarian parliament will create a solid foundation to move ahead in our bilateral relationship, and to reinforce mutual understanding and trust,” Kristersson said in the letter.

He added that “a more intensive dialogue between our countries would be beneficial”, noting they would also have the opportunity to speak in Brussels on February 1 at a meeting of the European Council.

The publication of the letter comes a day after Turkey’s parliament approved Sweden’s NATO membership. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to add his signature in the coming days.

Kristersson said after the vote in Ankara that Sweden was “one step closer” to joining the alliance.

In a post on X on the same day, Orban wrote that his country supports Sweden’s membership and said he would urge lawmakers to approve its accession quickly.

But on Thursday, Hungary’s parliamentary speaker, Laszlo Kover, said there was no urgency in backing Sweden’s NATO membership bid.

“I do not feel any particular urgency. Moreover, I do not think there is an extraordinary situation,” Kover said.

Finland became the 31st member of the alliance in April, which doubled the length of NATO’s border with Russia. It also  strengthened the defences of three small Baltic countries that joined the bloc after the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.

Sweden and Finland both had a lengthy history of military non-alignment harkening back to the Cold War. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rocked ties on the continent and changed their policy.

Both Orban and Erdogan maintain relatively friendly relations with Russia.



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Biggest NATO drills since Cold War to start next week | NATO News

The drill will involve about 90,000 personnel and rehearse NATO’s execution of its regional defence plans.

NATO will launch its largest exercise since the Cold War next week with about 90,000 personnel set to take part in the months-long wargames, the alliance’s top commander General Chris Cavoli has said.

Cavoli said on Thursday that the drills would rehearse NATO’s execution of its regional plans, the first defence plans the alliance has drawn up in decades, detailing how it would respond to a Russian attack.

NATO did not mention Russia by name in its announcement. But its top strategic document identifies Moscow as the most significant and direct threat to member states.

The alliance also said that taking part will be more than 50 ships, from aircraft carriers to destroyers; more than 80 fighter jets, helicopters and drones; and at least 1,100 combat vehicles, including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles.

“Steadfast Defender 2024 will demonstrate NATO’s ability to rapidly deploy forces from North America and other parts of the alliance to reinforce the defence of Europe,” NATO said.

The wargames will contain a “simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary”, Cavoli told reporters in Brussels after a two-day meeting of national chiefs of defence.

During the second part of the Steadfast Defender exercise, the focus will be on deploying NATO’s quick reaction force to Poland.

The games are expected to last until the end of May.

The Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, addresses a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, January 18, 2024 [Virginia Mayo/AP]

Cavoli said the drills will demonstrate “our unity, our strength, and our determination to protect each other”.

The Baltic states, which are seen as most at risk from a potential Russian attack, will be another location of the drills.

Germany will also be a location because it is a hub for incoming reinforcement and countries on the fringes of the alliance, including Norway and Romania.

The troops taking part in the exercises will come from NATO countries and Sweden, which hopes to join the alliance soon.

At the 2023 NATO summit held in Vilnius, Lithuania, allies signed off on regional plans that ended a long era of the military bloc no longer seeing a need for large-scale defence plans, as wars were focused in the Middle East or Afghanistan.

The bloc previously felt confident that there was no longer a threat from Russia.

The last exercises of a similar scale were the Reforger drills during the Cold War in 1988 with 125,000 participants and the Trident Juncture ones in 2018 with 50,000 participants, according to NATO.

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