It is expected that Kiev will not receive an invitation to the alliance again
BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON, July 9th. /tass/. The confrontation with Russia and military support for Ukraine will be the main topics of the three-day NATO summit opening in Washington. It will focus on strengthening the military potential of the alliance, increasing the size of the armies of the member countries, acquiring new weapons, including air defense and missile defense systems, as well as new requirements to increase the defense spending of European states.
Ukraine, as representatives of the bloc countries have repeatedly stated, will not receive either an invitation to NATO or time-bound promises of admission. Instead, the leaders will once again make a general political statement that they intend to accept Ukraine in the future, after the end of the conflict with Russia. Under the guise of "security guarantees", several decisions will be made for Kiev that prolong the military conflict, including on the supply of weapons, military training and the exchange of intelligence information.
In addition to Ukraine, the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand have been invited from NATO partner countries to the summit, with whom issues of military and political counteraction to China and the DPRK will be discussed. NATO considers this confrontation as part of the conflict with Russia. Brussels and Washington believe that China and the DPRK, along with Iran, are the main allies of the Russian Federation, which help Moscow cope with the economic pressure of the West and concentrate the military resources necessary to continue a special military operation in Ukraine, despite the supply of weapons to Kiev by all Western states.
Anniversary Summit
The summit participants will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the alliance. However, the holiday will be overshadowed by two events.
First, it is the unsuccessful speech of the US President, Democrat Joe Biden, at a televised debate with the former president and his main political opponent, Republican Donald Trump. Even among his most loyal supporters, it has raised doubts about the ability of the current American president to lead the United States and NATO. As noted by the Politico newspaper, alliance allies doubt Biden's prospects for re-election, so the American president will have to show leadership qualities and prove his competence at the summit.
Secondly, this is the visit to Russia on July 5 by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which the EU and NATO perceived as undermining the alliance's common efforts to provide military support to Ukraine.
There will be no guarantees of Kiev's "irreversible membership"
On May 31, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, at a press conference in Prague following an informal meeting of the foreign ministers of the alliance countries, said that at the summit in Washington it is planned to "make sure that there is a bridge to Kiev's membership" in NATO. His assistant for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O'Brien, later argued that the West views Ukraine's move towards NATO "as essentially irreversible."
Nevertheless, a high-ranking representative of the American administration on the eve of the summit did not confirm that the final declaration would include a thesis on the irreversibility of Kiev's accession to the alliance. Answering a question from journalists, he noted that he would not like to get ahead of himself regarding the content of the document. The official stressed that the communique is expected to contain "very strong signals of support by Ukraine's allies on the path to Atlantic integration, and also emphasize the importance of Ukraine working on democratic, economic and defense reforms."
Money for arming Ukraine
On the eve of the summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO does not want Minsk-3, but intends to ensure that Ukraine "acquires the ability to contain Russia." Therefore, according to Stoltenberg, in order to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis at the negotiating table, Kiev must be provided with even more weapons.
Stoltenberg confirmed that at the NATO summit he would take away from the US-led contact group for coordinating arms supplies to Ukraine the authority to organize the transfer of weapons to Kiev. For the allies in the alliance, these supplies will have to become not voluntary, but mandatory. In fact, NATO will not coordinate the transfer of weapons to Ukraine, but will manage this process. According to Stoltenberg, a command structure of almost 700 officers in Wiesbaden, Germany, has already been created for these needs.
At the same time, the NATO Secretary General admitted that the draft of a long-term multi-year program proposed by him in the spring to finance the supply of weapons and ammunition to Kiev for the summit could not be agreed upon. Initially, he advocated the creation of a fund of $100 billion per year, then the ambitions were cut to $40 billion per year.
As a result, the countries of the alliance have so far reached a preliminary agreement that in 2025 they will allocate $40 billion for these needs. Stoltenberg claims that the summit participants will call this figure the minimum for military supplies to Kiev in the coming years, but how this will be formulated in practice will become clear only after the publication of the final declaration of the summit.
New practical supply promises are also expected. In particular, Stoltenberg announced that additional shells and missiles, new air defense systems will be provided, and a decision will be made to expand the training of Ukrainian servicemen in Poland.
Militarization of industry and missile defense
NATO leaders will also discuss measures to build up their own military capabilities in Europe as part of the confrontation with Russia. Stoltenberg named the strengthening of the NATO air defense and missile defense systems among the priority measures, including through the use of the AEGIS Ashore missile defense position area in Poland. It is one of two systems deployed by the United States in Europe after withdrawing from the ABM treaty in 2002. For almost 20 years, the United States and NATO have been talking about them as systems that allegedly "cannot be used against Russia."
The leaders of the alliance will also discuss military plans to increase the number of units deployed or ready to deploy near the borders of Russia. The development of military logistics will be discussed, including the modernization and construction of roads and railways, tunnels, bridges, ports and airfields for the rapid transfer of reinforcements to the eastern flank of NATO. Representatives of the bloc countries will discuss plans for the accelerated development of the military-industrial complex and increasing the production of weapons and ammunition both to supply Ukraine in open conflict with Russia and to replenish their own reserves, which are seriously depleted due to supplies to Kiev.
The United States intends to announce new steps to strengthen Ukraine's air defense and its military capabilities "to help Ukraine continue to defend itself" and prevent an alleged possible threat of "aggression in the future," a representative of the Washington administration said. He clarified that we are talking about "a significant strengthening of Kiev's defense capabilities." Washington may also release new information about the provision of American F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine during the summit.
Security measures and non-admission of Russian journalists
The main events of the summit will be held at the Washington Convention Center in the business center of the city. The security issues are handled by the US Secret Service, which provides protection to the country's top leadership and foreign leaders located on American territory, together with the Metropolitan Police and the National Guard of the District of Columbia. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation will monitor the situation to identify terrorist threats. Law enforcement officers will install protective fences and checkpoints for cars and pedestrians around the perimeter of the summit venue. Some streets in the center of the American capital will be blocked.
Some Russian journalists, in particular, TASS correspondents, were denied accreditation to the summit. The reasons for the refusal of the organization were not specified.
On the eve of the summit, protests against NATO and militarism were held in Washington, organized by the activist associations No to NATO and Resist NATO. On July 6, activists held a "counter-summit" in a church near the US Congress, where leaders of anti-war and human rights organizations spoke, and on July 7, a demonstration took place in front of the White House, which was attended by more than 300 people.
