The Heads of State and Government of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries, as well as Finland and Sweden, met virtually on Friday 25 February to discuss the situation in Ukraine. At that time, NATO members unofficially validated the end of the NATO-Russia Founding Act.
The NATO meeting came hours after the leaders of EU Member States adopted an unprecedented second package of sanctions against Russia late on the night of 24-25 February (see EUROPE 12898/1).
“We met today to take stock of what is the most serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades”, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the beginning of the meeting.
“Russia bears full responsibility for this conflict. President Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine is a very serious strategic mistake, for which Russia will pay a high price, both economically and politically, for years to come”, he added.
The NATO Secretary General also called on Russia, as a number of heads of state and government have done since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to “immediately end its military offensive” and “withdraw all its forces from Ukraine”.
In practical terms, the joint declaration by NATO member states also unofficially validates - in effect - the end of the NATO-Russia Founding Act, which since 1997 has provided for cooperation in various areas ranging from peacekeeping to arms control to the fight against terrorism.
“The statement by NATO leaders today indicates that Russia has renounced this founding act that contained essential principles, by violating the integrity of a State twice since 2014. It is Russia itself that has reneged on the commitments it made in this framework. Russia does not respect the founding act, and when one party does not respect an agreement, it does not work anymore”, summarised Mr Stoltenberg.
Deployment to the eastern part of Alliance territory
Repeatedly recalling the solidarity of NATO member countries with Ukraine, their support and the unwavering unity shown by member states during the discussions, Mr Stoltenberg also referred to the various measures taken by the NATO allies.
“We are now making significant additional defensive deployments of forces in the eastern part and will make all necessary deployments to ensure strong and credible deterrence and defence across the Alliance now and in the future”, he said.
The activation of NATO’s defence plan, decided on Thursday 24 February, provides for the reinforcement of the forces deployed in the ‘eastern’ part of the Alliance. “About 100 fighter planes are also on alert and 120 ships are ready, from the far north to the Mediterranean Sea”, Jens Stoltenberg said.
These measures, however, remain “preventive”, said the NATO Secretary General. “We deploy not to provoke conflict, but to prevent it”.
However, while this was not the primary purpose of these measures, the Secretary General gave a firm assurance that escalation was an option that could not be completely ruled out. “We have to be ready to go further, even if we have to pay the price, because it is going to take a long time”, he said.
The NATO Secretary General also repeatedly emphasised in his speech that a Russian aggression against one of the member states would have serious repercussions. “An attack on one ally is an attack on all”, the Norwegian said.
This ‘one for all, all for one’ is not limited to conflicts on the ground. “Cyber attacks can trigger Article 5 [on the principle of ‘collective defence’, editor’s note], but we would never give an adversary the advantage of knowing when this would happen”, Mr Stoltenberg explained. On this subject, NATO also affirmed its support for Ukraine in the area of cyber security.
“The Russian people should know that the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine will not make Russia more secure, more respected, or lead to a better future”, concluded the organisation’s secretary general. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)