NATO member states will discuss a world without the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Tuesday, 12 February, on the eve of the Defence Ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
While urging Russia to use the six-month period for the effective withdrawal of the US from the agreement to “return to compliance and save the INF Treaty”, Mr Stoltenberg pointed out that NATO was planning for “a world without the INF Treaty”. “At this meeting of defence ministers, we will discuss what steps NATO should take to adapt to a world with more Russian missiles [and to] maintain effective deterrence and defence”, he told the media.
While he refused to speculate on these measures, Mr Stoltenberg predicted that they would be “coordinated, measured, and defensive”. “And we do not intend to deploy new ground-based nuclear missiles in Europe”, he said, adding that NATO did not want a new arms race. The Alliance has discussed the INF Treaty with Russia and will continue to do so, explained the Secretary General.
Mr Stoltenberg reiterated that the United States announced its intention to withdraw “with the full support of all NATO allies” (see EUROPE 12185).
The Alliance will discuss deterrence and defence issues more broadly, including NATO’s new initiative to have 30 combat ships, 30 land battalions, and 30 air squadrons available within 30 days.
The dinner will be devoted to burden sharing. The Allies must reach the target of spending 2% of their GDP on defence by 2024. While, according to the Secretary General, there is still “work to be done”, Europeans and Canada have spent $41 billion more on defence since 2016, and this amount is expected to reach $100 billion by next year. “The Allies are also investing more in modern capabilities and strengthening our missions and operations”, he said.
On Thursday morning, the ministers will discuss NATO’s missions, notably in Kosovo. The country has decided to transform its security forces (KSF) into a real army within 10 years. “The KFOR will continue; it will contribute to stability, and it will continue; that will not change. We will assess non-KFOR activities, such as capability development efforts. We have not made a decision, but we are going to assess NATO’s level of commitment”, explained Mr Stoltenberg (see EUROPE 12153).
Finally, Allies will discuss NATO-EU cooperation and EU efforts on defence (see other news). As usual, Mr Stoltenberg reiterated that EU efforts could strengthen the European pillar in NATO and lead to fairer burden sharing but that they could not replace NATO (see EUROPE 12184). “So we must ensure our efforts complement and do not compete with one another”, he advised again. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, is expected to present European progress in terms of defence. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)