On Wednesday 10 July, the leaders of the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) promised to support Ukraine on its “irreversible path” towards Euro-Atlantic integration, pointing out that Ukraine’s future lay within the Alliance.
While Kyiv continues to make “concrete progress” in the democratic, economic and security reforms required, “we will continue to support it on its irreversible path towards full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership”, the Allies emphasise in their declaration. Without giving a specific date, they reaffirm that they will be able to invite Kyiv to join the Alliance “when Allies agree and conditions are met”.
Looking beyond words, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the media about the decisions taken on the first day of the Washington summit in support of Ukraine.
The Allies have decided to establish the ‘NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine’ (NSATU) programme to coordinate the delivery of military equipment and military training activities organised by the Allies and their partners. According to Mr Stoltenberg, a three-star general should head up this programme, which should begin “soon”.
As expected, the Allies announced their intention to provide a basic envelope of “at least €40 billion” for the coming year and then to maintain security assistance at a sustainable level “so that Ukraine can prevail” against Russia. Leaders will review the Allies’ contributions - which should be proportional - at future NATO summits. According to Mr Stoltenberg, this is a “minimum” amount which could be revised according to Kyiv’s needs.
In addition, the Allies announced that they had made progress in establishing the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre (JATEC), “an important pillar of practical cooperation, to identify and apply lessons from Russia’s war against Ukraine and increase Ukraine’s interoperability with NATO”, according to the statement.
The Secretary General has decided as well to appoint a senior NATO representative in Ukraine, whose name is not yet known.
The Allies also welcomed the latest announcements concerning the provision of additional “critical” air defence systems and other military capabilities (see other news). Earlier in the day, the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, called on the Allies to supply Ukraine with their missile defence systems, pointing out that her country had done the same with its artillery. “We need to do the same now with air defence systems. We have a lot of them in the Alliance, and they would be better used in Ukraine than in Western Europe”, she stressed, adding that the situation was different for the countries of Eastern Europe.
Russia remains the greatest threat to the Alliance
The leaders reiterated that Russia remained “the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security”. They added that “the all-domain threat Russia poses to NATO will persist into the long term”, pointing in particular to Russia’s destabilising activities against NATO and its member countries. For their next summit, the Allies will make “recommendations on NATO’s strategic approach to Russia, taking into account the evolving security environment”.
Concern about the role played by China
In addition, the Allies claim that China has “become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine through its so-called ‘no limits’ partnership and its large-scale support for Russia’s defence industrial base (which) increases the threat Russia poses to its neighbours and to Euro-Atlantic security”. The Allies therefore called on Beijing to stop supporting the Russian war effort materially and politically, and in particular to stop transferring dual-use goods. “The PRC (People’s Republic of China) cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation”, warned the Allies, adding that China continued to pose systemic challenges to Euro-Atlantic security.
The deepening strategic partnership between Russia and China “and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut and reshape the rules-based international order” are a cause for profound concern, the Allies acknowledged.
To see the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/czy (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)