NATO marked 75 years of collective defence across Europe and North America, with its top diplomats vowing to stay the course in Ukraine as better-armed Russian troops assert control on the battlefield.
The anniversary comes as the Kremlin warned relations between NATO and Russia have sunk to the level of direct confrontation.
Denis Peskov, spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said NATO nations are already involved in the Ukraine war and are expanding towards Russia’s borders, reports Reuters.
Putin said he launched the war in February 2022, in part at least, because NATO was expanding closer to Russia’s borders. Then Finland and Sweden joined in record time to shelter under NATO’s collective security guarantee.
Now the 32-nation alliance is weighing a plan to provide more predictable longer-term military support to Ukraine.
Plagued by ammunition shortages, Ukraine this week lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks and appealed for additional air defences to counter Russian ballistic missile attacks.
“I didn’t want to spoil the birthday party for NATO, but I felt compelled to deliver a sobering message on behalf of Ukrainians about the state of Russian air attacks on my country, destroying our energy system, our economy, killing civilians,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who attended a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council.
Kuleba thanked the allies for agreeing to begin identifying Patriot missile battery stocks that could be sent to Ukraine. The Patriot “is the only system that effectively intercepts ballistic missiles,” he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking on Thursday before meeting with Kuleba, said that “support for Ukraine, the determination of every country represented here at NATO, remains rock solid.”
The staggering sums countries spend on defending themselves
“We will do everything we can, allies will do everything that they can, to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to continue to deal with Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, aggression that is getting worse with every passing day,” he said.
But, Blinken also acknowledged alliance unease over fears that the US commitment to both Ukraine and NATO might flag, particularly should former president Donald Trump retake the White House in November’s election.
Already, Congress is balking at approving a massive supplemental funding bill that includes significant aid for Ukraine. Trump’s skepticism of NATO is well-known.
“The message from Brussels is clear: that vote cannot happen soon enough,” Blinken told reporters after his meetings, referring to the Ukraine funding. “I also heard this from ally after ally: our commitment, our engagement is indispensable for this alliance.”
His comments came after ceremonies to mark the day NATO’s founding treaty was signed: April 4, 1949, in Washington.
