On Tuesday 15 March, on the eve of an extraordinary meeting of Allied Defence Ministers in Brussels to discuss the situation in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed his concern about a possible Russian chemical attack in Ukraine.
“The Russians are making absurd claims about biological labs and chemical weapons in Ukraine. This is just another lie. And we are concerned that Moscow could stage a false flag operation, possibly including chemical weapons”, he told the media, adding that the use of such weapons would be “unacceptable”. The Secretary General recalled that any use of chemical weapons would be a violation of international law and conventions signed by Russia, and called on Russia not to use them. “If such weapons were used, there would be a high price to pay”, Stoltenberg warned, but said he did not want to speculate on how NATO would react.
Stoltenberg reiterated the need to support Ukrainians who were “fighting bravely, defending their homes and their future”. In addition to sanctions and military training for “tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops” before the war, “the Allies also provided significant amounts of essential equipment, including anti-tank and air defence weapons, drones, ammunition and fuel”, the Secretary General said, arguing that this training and equipment was helping Ukraine defend itself.
“Ukraine has a fundamental right to self-defence, enshrined in the UN Charter, and Allies and NATO partners will continue to assist Ukraine in upholding this right by providing military equipment, financial and humanitarian assistance”, he reiterated, although the Allies refused to implement the no-fly zone requested by Kyiv.
At their meeting in Brussels, the Allied Ministers will be joined by their Georgian, Swedish and Finnish counterparts and the High Representative of the Union, and will hold a video conference with Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov.
Strengthening the security of the Allies in the short term...
Speaking to the media, Mr Stoltenberg recalled that the Alliance had reacted quickly to the Ukrainian crisis by activating defence plans, increasing its level of preparedness and deploying the NATO Collective Defence Response Force for the first time.
“There are now hundreds of thousands of troops on heightened alert throughout the Alliance. 100,000 US troops in Europe and about 40,000 troops under direct NATO command, mainly in the eastern part of the alliance”, he said, adding that they were supported by significant air and naval power and air defences.
Mr Stoltenberg said the United States was currently deploying Patriot batteries - an anti-aircraft defence system - in Poland, and Germany and the Netherlands were doing the same in Slovakia.
... and in the long term
In addition to these measures, the Defence Ministers will discuss concrete measures to strengthen our security in the long term in all areas. The Secretary General hoped that Ministers would agree to task NATO’s military commanders with developing options for the Madrid Summit in June.
“On the ground, this could mean a substantial increase in forces in the eastern part of the Alliance, at a higher level of readiness and with more pre-positioned equipment”, he explained. According to Mr Stoltenberg, the Alliance is also considering significant increases in air and naval deployments, the strengthening of integrated air and missile defence and cyber defences, and more and larger exercises.
And while several Allies have already announced increases in defence spending, such as Germany and Denmark, the Secretary General warned that major defence reinforcements will require significant increases in investment, encouraging all Allies to devote a minimum of 2% of their GDP to defence. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)