NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Thursday 24 February that a virtual summit of the Allies would be held on the afternoon of Friday 25 February to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the presence also of the leaders of Sweden, Finland and the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council.
“Russia has attacked Ukraine. This is a brutal act of war [...] Peace on our continent has been shattered. We now have war in Europe, on a scale and of a type we thought belonged to history”, he declared to the media, at the end of a North Atlantic Council.
“Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked attack on Ukraine is endangering countless innocent lives, with air and missile attacks, ground forces and special forces from several directions targeting military infrastructure and major urban centres. This was a deliberate, cold-blooded and long-planned invasion”, he declared with unusually intense criticism, adding that the Russian leadership bore full responsibility for their reckless actions and the lives lost.
In a statement adopted at an extraordinary meeting, the North Atlantic Council condemned “in the strongest possible terms the horrific attack by Russia on Ukraine, without any justification and in total absence of provocation”.
“It is Russia, and only Russia, that has chosen to escalate. Russia’s actions pose a serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security and will have geostrategic consequences”, he added. The Allies stressed that they stood by the Ukrainians, the “legitimate and democratically elected” Ukrainian president, parliament and government.
The North Atlantic Council called on Moscow to immediately halt its military action, which it described as a “serious violation of international law”, and an “act of aggression against an independent and peaceful country”. Russia must withdraw all its forces from in and around Ukraine, fully respect international humanitarian law and allow safe and unhindered access to humanitarian assistance for all those in need, the Allies add. They urged Moscow “in the strongest possible terms to turn away from its chosen path of violence and aggression”.
“Russian leaders must take full responsibility for the consequences of their actions”, the Allies added, stressing that the political and economic price Russia will have to pay will be very high.
According to the Secretary General, the Kremlin’s goal is “to re-establish its sphere of influence, tear up the global rules that have ensured our security for decades and overturn the values we hold dear”. “We must respond with renewed determination and even stronger unity”, he warned.
Activation of defence plans
The North Atlantic Council considered the request of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to hold urgent consultations under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty. This article states that “the parties shall consult each other whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened”.
NATO therefore decided to activate its defence plans, at the request of its top military commander, General Tod Wolters. “This is a prudent and defensive measure to protect ourselves and our allies during this crisis. It will allow us to deploy capabilities and forces, including the NATO Response Force, wherever they are needed”, Stoltenberg said. These defence plans have been developed over the years to ensure that we have plans in place to respond to crises; they are defence plans that cover the entire eastern part of our Alliance, from the Bering Sea to the Mediterranean, and give military commanders more authority, within politically defined guidelines and frameworks, to deploy forces where they see fit, he explained.
Mr Stoltenberg noted that in recent weeks the Allies had already deployed thousands of additional troops to the eastern part of the Alliance and had placed others on standby. “We have over 100 jets on alert, protecting our airspace. And more than 120 allied ships at sea, from the far north to the Mediterranean”, he said.
The Secretary General also warned that NATO’s primary task was to protect and defend all Allies. “There should be no room for miscalculation or misunderstanding. An attack on one of them will be considered an attack on all of them”, he stressed.
See the North Atlantic Council statement: https://aeur.eu/f/i4 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)