The foreign affairs ministers of NATO countries are meeting on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 November, with the war in Ukraine once again at the centre of their debate.
On Tuesday, they will discuss what further assistance they could provide to Ukraine. According to the US ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, the ministers are expected to reiterate the same messages as at their previous meetings, about the unity of the Allies, who stand by Ukraine.
Ahead of the ministerial meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called for support for Kyiv. “What happens at the negotiating table depends on what happens on the battlefield. Therefore, the best way to increase the chances for a peaceful solution is to support Ukraine”, he stressed.
He said ministers should agree to step up non-lethal support. “As part of our overall programme of assistance, NATO has delivered fuel, medical supplies, winter equipment and drone jammers”, the Secretary General said.
The latest attacks by Russia on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure is also expected to be discussed.
At a dinner on Tuesday evening, the Allies will meet with their Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, who is expected to brief them on the situation on the ground and provide an update on his country’s needs. Ministers are also expected to discuss their longer-term support for Ukraine.
Building resilience to China
On Wednesday, the ministers will discuss China, how to strengthen the resilience of the Allies and the challenges posed by Beijing. This debate will be the follow-up to the decisions taken by the leaders in June at the Madrid Summit with the adoption of the Strategic Concept (see EUROPE 12982/2).
“China is not an adversary”, Mr Stoltenberg warned. However, the Secretary General recalled that China is accelerating its military modernisation, “including with advanced weapons systems, long-range missiles, new nuclear weapons”.
Moreover, Beijing is expanding its presence from the Arctic to the Western Balkans, from space to cyberspace, working increasingly closely with Russia and seeking to control the critical infrastructure of NATO Allies, Mr Stoltenberg said, pointing out that China did not share the values of the Allies, “by violating human rights”.
While the war in Ukraine had demonstrated the Allies’ “dangerous dependence” on Russian gas, the Secretary General said that they needed to assess their dependence on other authoritarian regimes, notably China, “for example (on) rare earth minerals, supply chains”.
“We need to manage risks, reduce our vulnerabilities and increase our resilience”, he summarised.
Mr Stoltenberg said it was also necessary to work with the Asia-Pacific partners, Japan and South Korea, New Zealand and Australia.
Strengthening cooperation with partners
The ministers will also meet with their counterparts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova, who “are facing Russian pressure in many different ways”, according to Mr Stoltenbeerg.
At the meeting, the Allies are expected to take further steps to help these countries “protect their independence and strengthen their ability to defend themselves”.
Finally, the foreign ministers will be joined by the Swedish and Finnish ministers to discuss their countries’ future membership of NATO.
Turkey and Hungary have still not ratified the decision.
“It is time to finalise their membership process and welcome them as full members of our Alliance. This will make them safer, NATO stronger and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure”, said Mr Stoltenberg. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)