A debrief of this year's NATO Summit
As the alliance celebrates 75 years, difficult issues from Russia, China, and within the alliance remains
Behind the smiles and friendly mood in Washington for this year’s NATO summit. There will be a feeling of uncertainty and frustration between the 32 member alliance as the alliance celebrates 75th anniversary.
The meeting took place on the backdrop of a chaotic world as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to grind on into its second year. While tensions in the Asia Pacific has also been of notice for the alliance.
Here are three takeaways from the summit
Questions loom over commitment to Ukraine even with announcements of support for Ukraine
A day prior to the start of the summit, a children’s hospital in Kyiv was hit by Russian airstrikes killing 41 people, the deadliest air strikes in the last few months. The airstrikes has been a reminder for the world of that the war in Ukraine is, it is also a reminder to NATO of the need to continue backing Ukraine.
The alliance has responded to the attacks with more military support for Ukraine. US president Joe Biden announced in a speech to members on Tuesday that the alliance will provide new strategic air defence systems and interceptors, and the transfer of F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and Netherlands with 60 of those jets are expected to take flight this summer according to European officials.
The US has promised a new security package worth 225 million dollars and includes patriot missile batteries, additional ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems and missiles.
Biden had reiterated his support for Ukraine in a forceful tone saying “Before this war, Putin thought NATO would break. Today, Nato is stronger than it’s ever been in its history. When this senseless war began, Ukraine was a free country. Today it’s still a free country and the war will end with Ukraine remaining a free and independent country…Russia will not prevail, Ukraine will prevail.”
Words and actions which pleased Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky who has been demanding for faster shipment of weapons delivery as Ukraine continues its efforts in fighting back against Russia. Zelensky continues to push for NATO leaders to drop all limitations on striking targets inside Russia. Previously, the US and other European allies had allowed Ukraine to use weapons inside Russia although soley near the area of Kharkiv.
The outgoing NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Wednesday that Ukraine was on an irreversible path to membership into NATO, a message which was message by the 32 member countries in their final statement. Although no timeline was given.
As the alliance continues to back Ukraine, there have been some members of the alliance who are reluctant to give further aid such as Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban who prior to the summit was in Russia and China on a “peace mission” to discuss with their respective leaders, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping about a negotiated settlement to end the war.
However, November’s presidential election in the United States will be of worry for Ukraine and its European allies as the United States remains the biggest contribute of aid to Ukraine. Former president Donald Trump has said that he can end the war in one day.
NATO countries face calls to raise defence spending
US Presidents from Barack Obama to Donald Trump and now Joe Biden, have continually been calling on NATO member countries to do their part and raise their defence spending by at least two percent of GDP, a pledge agreed by members since 2006 and 2014.
The argument that’s been made for the need to raise defence spending comes from a frustration in Washington that many European NATO members were complacent and were to reliant on the US for its defence. Fears were heightened when In February, Trump said at a rally in South Carolina that he would encourage Russia them to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO members that don’t pay 2 percent.
Worth noting, that some analysts have said that 2% isn’t sufficient enough in terms of being an indicator of how committed a country is to defence, rather it is how that money is spent and how allies should share the security burden.
NATO members have responded to the threats of Russia and the comments made by American presidents, As of writing 23 out of the 32 NATO members have met the 2 percent mark with Poland being the highest contributor with 4.9 percent. The newest members of the alliance, Sweden and Finland, have also met the 2 percent target.
There are still lagards in funding such as Canada, Italy, and Spain. Canada, which has faced the most criticism from NATO allies on this area, has said it expects to meet by 2032, a message which is best summed up by a tweet by Ian Bremmer. Although, Canada was part of a pact with the US and Finland that would build icebreakers for the Arctic as well as announcing the replacement of the current fleet of submarines.
Other countries have also made agreements as well such as Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece have signed a deal for easier mobility of troops and weapons to help prepare for any emergency situations which might arise. France, Germany, Italy, and Poland have signed a letter of intent to develop ground launched cruise missiles with a range beyond 500km (310 miles) as reported by the Guardian.
Tensions in the Asia Pacific also on the agenda
The third and last day of the summit saw Asia Pacific countries participating in meetings with both NATO countries and Ukraine.
While NATO has been primarily about the security regarding the transatlantic ranging from Canada and the US on one side and Europe on the other. Tension in the Asia Pacific region regarding aggression from China has been of focus for NATO in the last few summits.
For the third year in a row, the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea have been invited to the summit. During a talk with the Brookings Institution last week, US secretary of state, Antony Blinken said that both of the US’s European and Asian partners view each other’s challenges as relevant to them. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry had condemned the cooperation of NATO and the four countries, as he accused NATO of “breaching its boundary, expanding its mandate, reaching beyond its defense zone and stoking confrontation.”
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all of these countries have condemned Russia’s invasion in Ukraine along with being on the list of “unfriendly nations” that Russia has. All these countries have also provided both military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine to some extent or more.
While both China, North Korea and Iran have been accused of providing weapons and still doing business with Russia. The final statement from NATO called China a “decisive enabler” in the conflict as they called for Beijing to “cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort” and said that it “continues to pose challenges for Euro-Atlantic security”, especially when it comes to disinformation and activities in Space and Cyberspace.