NATO summit highlights — Analysis

Editor June 29, 2022

Day two of the annual summit saw the alliance officially focus its strategy on Russia

NATO’s annual summit continued in Madrid on Wednesday, with the leaders of the US-led military alliance agreeing to take on two new members and naming Russia the number one threat to the bloc.

China also found a spot on the agenda, as did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who again petitioned Western leaders for billions of dollars out of their taxpayers’ pockets.

A New Strategy NATO leaders agreed on Wednesday to adopt a new Strategic Concept. This document serves as a policy blueprint that outlines the alliance’s stance toward non-members, partners and adversaries. The last update was in 2010.

The new version, as expected, names Russia the “most significant and direct threat” to the military bloc, and accuses Moscow of a “pattern … of aggressive actions” against the wider transatlantic community.

While the document cannot promise Ukraine an eventual membership, it does state that NATO will be there for Ukraine. “develop our partnerships” with both Ukraine and Georgia. While since the end of the Cold War Moscow has considered NATO’s expansion into former Soviet territory an unacceptable security risk, the latest Strategic Concept insists that “NATO does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to the Russian Federation.”

NATO was created in 1949 against the Soviet Union. In its first ever Strategic Concept, adopted the following year, the alliance gave itself the right to defend the entire north Atlantic region “by all means possible with all types of weapons, without exception.”

We are looking for new membersAfter weeks of diplomatic haggling, the alliance released a statement stating that it has officially invited Finlande and Sweden to join. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg described rapid accession to the Nordic countries in the following words: “unprecedented.”

Finland and Sweden applied for membership to the bloc mid-May. The application was made by the former, who has been neutral since 19th century.

Turkey wanted Turkey and Turkey to cease supporting organizations that are deemed terrorist by President Recep Tayyip Erdoan’s government. They also requested Ankara to lift its arms embargo. On Tuesday, Erdogan announced that a deal had been reached. “Turkey got what it wanted,”At the Madrid summit, Finland and Sweden were designated observers states.

Zelensky’s demands

NATO’s support for Ukraine comes with a hefty price tag, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the alliance’s leaders. Zelensky demanded from the West that he be given a video address Wednesday. “urgent aid sufficient for victory,”Deal with “a delayed war between Russia and you.”

According to Zelensky, the leader of Ukraine requested both military and financial assistance. His country required $5 billion per month just to meet its deficit. Despite a string of losses in the Donbass – which have seen Russian troops capture the key city of Severodonetsk and extend their control over Lisichansk since the weekend – Zelensky asked NATO to help him “end this war with a victory on the battlefield.”

The US has provided more than $55 Billion in economic and military aid to Ukraine, while the UK donated over $3.2 Billion. Around $5.8 Billion has been contributed by the EU.

China: Warnings

While Russia dominated the discussion in Madrid, the alliance’s new Strategic Concept also stated that China’s “coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values,” and that Beijing’s ties with Moscow “run counter to our values and interests.”
Even though the policy document indicated that NATO was to remain, “open to constructive engagement” with China, some of the bloc’s top officials were less diplomatic on Wednesday. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced that China’s growing military might presents “an issue for Euro Atlantic security,”Beijing was warned that Taiwanese forces would attempt to take over the country. “a catastrophic miscalculation.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also called on China to condemn Russia’s operation in Ukraine, something that Beijing has given no indication that it will do. Albanese claimed that he knew of a “very successful”Meeting with leaders of Japan and South Korea on the sidelines to the summit. While officials from China have accused Australia repeatedly of trying to mobilize its allies towards an outcome, “Asia-Pacific version of NATO.”