NATO

US President Joe Biden and fellow NATO leaders assembled in the Spanish capital of Madrid Wednesday announced a significant strengthening of forces along ...

New rounds of security assistance, including a US-provided missile defense system, have been added to the queue of artillery and ammunition flowing in Ukraine. In order to get the deal struck before the summit, Biden dangled the prospect of a formal bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a phone call on Tuesday morning. "The United States and our allies, we are going to step up -- we are stepping up. They've stood up and they've stood strong," Biden said Tuesday when he was meeting with King Felipe VI at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who will address the NATO meeting this week, told leaders attending the G7 summit in Germany he wanted their help staging a major initiative to win the war by the end of the year. That has left Biden and fellow western leaders this week searching for ways to alter the trajectory of the war.

Thank you so much, President Biden, dear Joe. It's really good to see you here in Madrid, so soon after we met in the White House in Washington.

And so, at this Summit, the full Alliance is going to welcome Finland and Sweden. We're stepping up, proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been. And we also see that in the unwavering support from you and from the United States to Ukraine. And now we're here. And the moment when Putin has shattered peace in Europe, and attacked the very, very tenants of the rules-based order, the United States and our Allies, we're going to step up. And we're going to send two additional F-35 squadrons to the UK, and station additional air defence and other capabilities in Germany and in Italy. Our meeting is today. And together our Allies, we're going to make sure that NATO is ready to meet threats from all directions, across every domain: land, air and the sea. And Article Five is sacrosanct. And we're going to enhance our rotational deployments in the Baltic states. An historic application for membership and their decision to move away from neutrality, tradition of neutrality, to join the NATO Alliance. This is going to make us stronger and more secure, and NATO, stronger. We're going to approve a new NATO Strategic Concept and reaffirm the unity and determination of our Alliance to defend every inch of NATO territory.

Ankara has signed a trilateral memorandum agreement after obtaining concessions on demands it put forward in May.

- Russia has firmly opposed Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO, seeing it as further encroachment of the transatlantic alliance towards Russian territory. Biden is expected to meet Erdogan during the summit. - Ankara hailed the agreement as a triumph. - Finland and Sweden also agreed “not to impose embargo restrictions in the field of defence industry” on Turkey and to take “concrete steps on the extradition of terrorist criminals”. - Turkey surprised its NATO allies when it initially opposed Finland and Sweden’s bid to join the alliance. Turkey has lifted its veto over Finland and Sweden’s bid to join NATO, ending a weeks-long dispute that tested the unity of the alliance against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Biden says additional deployments send 'an unmistakable message' that the alliance is 'strong and united'

The June 29-30, 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain will be an historic moment for the Transatlantic Alliance. Building on the President's first NATO Summit.

The U.S. has been a leader in the alliance on spurring NATO’s adaptation to these issues, including by mainstreaming climate considerations in intelligence analysis and assisting with development of a methodology for mapping the NATO enterprise’s greenhouse gas emissions. In recognition of the mutually-reinforcing roles of NATO and the EU in bolstering Euro-Atlantic and international security, the presidents of the European Council and European Commission will join the Summit’s discussions and the Transatlantic dinner hosted by Spain. Allies will also consult with Georgia to express support for its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. Strengthened Cyber Resilience and Defense: Building on last year’s adoption of a new Cyber Defense Policy for NATO, Allied leaders will endorse a new action plan to strengthen cyber cooperation across the political, military, and technical levels. NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly has highlighted the importance of democratic resilience to NATO’s strength and unity, and the United States is working with Allies to support and bolster these efforts. Preserving our Technological Edge: Leaders will offer pledges to help stand up a new Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, which will support NATO’s efforts to boost interoperability and ensure that every Ally has access to cutting-edge technological solutions for military needs. Allies will also approve expanded programs to support the defensive needs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and the Republic of Moldova. The United States welcomes the trilateral agreement signed on June 28 by Turkey, Sweden, and Finland that will pave the way for NATO leaders to issue an invitation during the Summit to Sweden and Finland. The United States strongly supports the applications by Sweden and Finland and has prepared all necessary materials for the U.S. Congress to carry out their advice and consent responsibilities, once accession talks have concluded and Allies sign the accession protocols, which is expected to occur in the coming days. In close cooperation with our Allies and hosting nations, President Biden announced today that the United States will take the following additional actions to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defense and European security: Allies have also doubled NATO’s battlegroups on the eastern flank, ensuring strong defense from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. At the Summit, Allied leaders will endorse a new strengthened defensive force posture, with a 360-degree view across land, air, sea, cyber, and space, and an emphasis on more combat-credible forward capabilities on the eastern flank. Our Allies are stepping up as well, and have significantly enhanced their contributions to NATO through identified reinforcements and establishment of new combat-credible structures able to scale up to brigade size across the eastern flank. The Summit will provide an opportunity to advance collective efforts with these Allies and partners to strengthen the rules-based international order. A New Strategic Concept: Allied leaders will endorse NATO’s next Strategic Concept, the first update since 2010 for this key public document which describes how NATO will address threats and challenges in its security environment in coming years.

At Madrid leaders' summit, Stoltenberg says Putin failed in effort to stop alliance from adding members.

“NATO does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to the Russian Federation,” the leaders wrote. “We cannot consider the Russian Federation to be our partner,” they wrote. “In the High North, its capability to disrupt Allied reinforcements and freedom of navigation across the North Atlantic is a strategic challenge to the Alliance.” In the new edition, they described China as a challenge to allies’ “interests, security and values.” Equipment to counter mines and chemical and biological threats, and hundreds of portable anti-drone systems.” And it also demonstrates that we respect the sovereign right of every nation to choose their path.”

Liz Truss spoke at the panel session of the NATO Public Forum in Madrid about how we must be united to ensure Ukraine wins, and deter aggressors like China.

So we also need to learn that lesson, I believe, with China of not becoming strategically dependent on China and in fact making sure we have strong alternatives. We’ve seen increased collaboration between Russia and China and we know that China is watching Ukraine closely. So my very strong message is we have to defeat Russia first, and negotiate later.

The two countries had resisted calls to join the alliance for decades as they preferred to stay neutral. As it shares a long border with Russia, Finland was ...

Meanwhile, the alliance has launched plans to grow the size of its forces on high alert by more than sevenfold. Support among Ukrainians for Nato membership was low for many decades but soared into a wide majority after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, according to polls. A memo published by the alliance on Wednesday said ‘the accession of Finland and Sweden will make them safer, NATO stronger and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure’. In the run-up to the invasion, Kremlin mouthpieces went into overdrive claiming ‘fascists’ in the Ukrainian government planned to sign up against the country’s will so Nato could mass troops closer to the Russian border. It marks an embarrassing change in the tides of history for the Russian president, who repeatedly insisted his ‘special military operation’ was forced by illegitimate plans to absorb Ukraine into Nato. Finland and Sweden’s bids to join Nato have been all but accepted in a devastating blow to Putin’s crumbling plan to reassert Russia’s dominance.

At the Madrid Summit on Wednesday (29 June 2022), Allied leaders were joined by some of NATO's closest partners to address global challenges.

Boris Johnson said Nato had proved Vladimir Putin 'completely wrong' through its response to the Ukraine invasion.

She said: “That is exactly what we saw in the case of Ukraine, a strategic miscalculation by Putin, so this is why it’s so important that the free world work together to help ensure that Taiwan is able to defend itself and to stress the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” “That is the moment, in the middle of the decade, to say we should commit to increased funding.” In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK increased its presence in Estonia to include the temporary deployment of a second battlegroup, doubling the total number of deployed personnel to over 1,600. Leaders of the 30 Nato members gathered in Madrid to agree a new plan for the alliance in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Heavy equipment will be pre-positioned in eastern Nato members along with stockpiles of supplies, while forces from western members will be assigned specific regions on the eastern flank to protect in partnership with local troops. Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said: “Today, Nato leaders decided a fundamental shift in our defence and deterrence to respond to a new security reality.”

“We condemn the irresponsible course of the North Atlantic Alliance that is ruining the European architecture, or what's left of it,” Russian deputy foreign ...

This has nothing to do with real life; it’s the alliance that poses a threat to us.” The decision followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has prompted Russian neighbours to appeal to Nato for additional security guarantees. “This can only be regretted.”

NATO has invited Sweden and Finland to become members of the military alliance, a commununique published by the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday said.

In the communique, the alliance described China as a challenge to NATO's interests, security and values, and as a country that is seeking to undermine the rules-based international order. The communique described Russia as the "most significant and direct threat to the allies' security", a reaction to the massively deteriorated relationship to Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. The alliance pledged further help to Kyiv and agreed a package of support aimed at modernizing the country's defence sector.

NATO countries, welcoming Finland and Sweden and announcing a surge of forces, hope to signal to Moscow that their commitment to Ukraine is not waning.

Significant disagreements have also emerged between some of the NATO countries over how hard to push for an end to the war in Ukraine and how to continue supporting the beleaguered country in the face of economic fallout back home. “And it is not just a problem for European countries.” “The timing is obviously excellent,” the senior administration official said. At a summit of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies earlier this week, leaders were unable to agree on the specifics of a deal to impose price caps on Russian oil. Still, the war could drag on for months or years, and its final geopolitical impact is far from clear. NATO’s resurgence and expansion, after years when it sometimes seemed adrift, was intended to signal that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is having an impact opposite from the one he sought.

Analysis: deal between Biden and Erdoğan is sealed in Madrid after Nordic countries vow to control support for Kurdish terrorism.

She said from a Swedish perspective, nothing substantive had been conceded even if the wording was designed to allow Turkey to say otherwise. Washington said Congress would have a final say on the deal. Ann Linde, the Swedish foreign minister, said: “We will not agree to any extraditions unless there is proof of terrorist activity. Washington had not previously openly expressed an opinion on the sale aside from saying all weapons sales would have to go through the necessary legal processes. The US president also thanked Erdoğan for his role in trying to broker an UN-endorsed agreement in which stockpiles of Ukrainian grain could leave the Black Sea ports. Biden rewarded Erdoğan’s lifting of the veto by staging the Madrid meeting and authorising his officials to say they were willing to help in the modernisation of the Turkish air force.

Magdalena Andersson sees 'mild' reaction from Moscow so far but says her country is prepared.

“We are right now in the midst of the largest buildup of our military, our defense since the ’50s.” “This was a historic day for Sweden and for NATO yesterday,” she said. And together with Finland, they’re very strong on the ground, I think we, together, will really provide for more security to NATO.” “My ambition is that that will not only increase security in Sweden and Finland, but in NATO as a whole.” But with Sweden and Finland as allies, NATO will instantly gain vastly expanded cold-weather war-fighting capabilities. Putin claimed his invasion of Ukraine was partly intended to contain NATO and prevent further expansion of the U.S.-led military alliance.

Vladimir Putin has warned Russia will respond 'in kind' if Nato sets up infrastructure in Sweden and Finland. The Russian despot issued the chilling threat ...

‘As Putin fails to make the gains he had anticipated and hoped for and the futility of this war becomes clear to all, his attacks against the Ukrainian people are increasingly barbaric. In more bad news for the Russian dictator, Nato today agreed a ‘fundamental shift’ which will see it return to Cold War-style readiness to respond to the increased threat posed by Moscow. For the UK, this will mean the ‘majority’ of naval forces – including one of the aircraft carriers and its support vessels – being available to Nato, along with extra air squadrons and land brigade-sized units. It marks an embarrassing change in the tides of history for the Russian president, who repeatedly insisted his ‘special military operation’ was forced by the threat of Nato’s expansion to Ukraine. But he said he would be forced to respond in the mirror if Nato military infrastructure is deployed in these countries. The Russian despot issued the chilling threat after the Nordic countries signed an agreement that has paved the way for them to join the western alliance.

Helsinki and Stockholm joining NATO marks one of the the biggest shifts in European security in decades. Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the 6th ...

Helsinki and Stockholm joining NATO marks one of the biggest shifts in European security in decades. “With Sweden and Finland, we don’t have the problems that we have with Ukraine. They want to join NATO, go ahead,” Putin told Russian state television after talks with regional leaders in the central Asian ex-Soviet state of Turkmenistan. Helsinki and Stockholm joining NATO marks one of the the biggest shifts in European security in decades.

NATO heads of state and government meeting in Madrid on Wednesday (29 June 2022) approved a new Strategic Concept for the Alliance, setting out the ...

The documents also states that climate change is “a defining challenge of our time”. The Strategic Concept is updated roughly every decade and is NATO’s second most important document. NATO heads of state and government meeting in Madrid on Wednesday (29 June 2022) approved a new Strategic Concept for the Alliance, setting out the Alliance’s priorities, core tasks and approaches for the next decade. The document defines Russia as the “most significant and direct threat” to Allies’ security, while addressing China for the first time and the challenges that Beijing poses toward Allies’ security, interests and values.

Russian threat: The “virtual rapid response cyber capability” comes after months of Russian cyberattacks in Ukraine as part of the war and amid concerns that ...

It also pledged to work with the private sector to counter threats, formally recognized threats in cyberspace posed by Russia and China, and promised to update NATO’s command structure to reflect new cyber threats. The program is voluntary. The U.S. will offer “robust national capabilities” to support this program, according to a fact sheet put out by the White House on Wednesday.

The European Union. Georgia. Finland and Sweden. And for the first time at a NATO Summit, our Indo-Pacific partners: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the ...

And now, in the coming months, I expect more Allies to commit more forces so when they make decisions, they of course have to also realise that that also will require more forces from NATO Allies at higher readiness organised in a way which makes them available for NATO operations, missions and NATO commanders, if needed. And the good news is that more and more Allies have actually announced forces to fill that new Force Structure with substance. Because that's the reason why we have increased our presence in the eastern part of the Alliance, why NATO Allies have started to invest more in defence, and why we have increased the readiness. And that has made it impossible for us to continue to have the kind of partnership, engagement with Russia that we have worked for so long. And then, of course, when Allies commit to new Force Structure, we also expect them to deliver the forces. But NATO has to have an open mind and engage with also countries which are not as like-minded as the countries gathered in that room. NATO Secretary General: I met with the Georgian Prime Minister. We discussed and addressed, of course, how we can, as you asked about, step up our practical and political partnership and support for Georgia. We will step up both the political and practical support for Georgia with a new package to help build their capabilities and also strengthen their resilience. So this is the core … for the land element to the NATO new Force Model and the new Force Structure. We've also planned to provide additional personnel for our NATO Liaison Office in Georgia. And then, of course, we have also other elements like the training and evaluation centre in Tbilisi and other elements that can further strengthen our partnership with Georgia. On the membership issue, while we stand by the decision we've taken before but we're not going to give any dates. And we're also waiting for the historic decision from NATO to invite Georgia. We are living, as you many times mentioned, in an unpredictable world but still, in the context of the open door policy, what message are you sending today from Madrid to Georgia? When window of opportunity will be for Georgia? You met with Georgian Prime Minister, he had a speech. But the difference is that they will now be organised in ways that can fit them into NATO operations, fit them into NATO defence planning, and be available for NATO commanders. And then, of course, Allies have to contribute forces to that new Force Model. That is in many ways the same as we've done before when we have made similar decisions.

Contribution of fighter aircraft, land forces, and maritime vessels to New Force Model will protect people across the Alliance against future threats.

NATO has introduced the New Force Model in support of Leaders’ decision to modernise and strengthen the NATO Force Structure for the future. The lethality of these deployments will be enhanced with advanced capabilities including helicopters and artillery systems. Meanwhile, the UK’s existing HQ in Tallinn will be expanded.

Downing Street said it is almost doubling UK commitment to military support for Ukraine with additional £1bn. British soldier with assault weapon.

Wallace also tried to play down differences over defence spending with No 10, while indicating that he wants budgets to rise at the end of the current spending review period in April 2025. “You are not going to get a massive surprise,” he said, noting that Russia placed more than 100,000 troops on the borders of Ukraine for several months before it invaded in February. The warships would be committed to Nato on rotation, said Wallace.

ITV News Europe Editor James Mates reports on world leaders from Nato declaring Russia to be a significant threat to their security as they pledged to keep ...

Earlier in the day, Mr Johnson met the leaders of Sweden and Finland to congratulate them on moving a step closer to Nato membership after Turkey dropped its objections. “In 2021 we were the third-biggest defence spender in the world. Actually, today we’re at 2.3% of GDP (gross domestic product, a measure of the size of the economy), so we’re above the 2% commitment already." “Allies will continue to provide major military and financial help.” “This is the first time since the Cold War that we have these kind of plans with pre-assigned forces,” Mr Stoltenberg added. Just nine of Nato's 30 members currently meet its target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defence.

A trilateral agreement between Finland, Sweden and Turkey appears to give few concrete concessions to Ankara.

On a call with reporters Tuesday, a senior administration official also said that Turkey did not ask the United States for any specific allowances. “This is the strategic thinking behind this whole dog and pony show. “The United States supports Turkey’s modernization of its fighter fleet because that is a contribution to NATO security and therefore American security.” One of his goals, Tahiroglu said, was face time with President Biden and other NATO leaders. An 11th-hour deal between Finland, Sweden and Turkey persuaded Erdogan to drop his objections. NATO on Wednesday announced it was formally inviting Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.