WASHINGTON, D.C., July 11 ------ North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders met for their 75th anniversary, seeking ways to ramp up support for Ukraine as deadly Russian strikes and political uncertainties in the West stir new concerns. With the pomp of a summit in Washington, United States President Joe Biden was aiming to rally the West and also reassure US voters amid intense pre-election scrutiny on whether at 81 six years older than the alliance he remains fit for the job.
Kicking off three days of events for the 32-nation alliance with a celebration on Tuesday night, Biden announced a new air defense system for Kyiv and urged unity against Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. "Make no mistake. Ukraine can and will stop Putin," Biden said forcefully to applause. On the eve of the summit, Russia fired a barrage of missiles on Ukraine, killing dozens, including in the capital Kyiv, where a children's hospital was reduced to rubble. Biden has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the summit, as well as the leaders of four key Pacific partners Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand — as he seeks to increase NATO's role in managing a rising China. But the US leader himself is facing a tough election challenge from his predecessor Donald Trump, who has loudly questioned the utility of NATO and mused on forcing a peace deal in which Ukraine would surrender land to Russia.
Greatest risk
In Washington, Zelensky thanked Ukraine's backers for the promise of new air defenses, and urged the US and others to go further to help defeat Russia. Norway's Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's outgoing secretary-general, acknowledged the question marks, after Trump's allies in the US Congress forced a delay of months in approving new weapons for Ukraine. "Ukraine has shown remarkable courage, and NATO allies have provided unprecedented support. But let's be honest: not even our support for Ukraine has been a given," Stoltenberg said. "Remember: the biggest cost and the greatest risk will be if Russia wins in Ukraine. We cannot let that happen," he added.
Other leaders attending the summit include Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of Putin's closest partners in the West, who, ahead of the summit, went to Ukraine, Russia and China on a self-described peace mission criticized by Brussels and Washington. Another Asian partner of the US, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met Putin on the eve of the NATO summit and is not part of the Washington talks.
Reassurances for Ukraine
Ukraine has been seeking firm assurances that it will one day join NATO, which considers an attack on any member an attack on all. Ukraine's membership enjoys wide backing from Baltic and Eastern European nations still haunted by decades under the Soviet yoke. But Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have led opposition, concerned that the alliance would effectively be entering war with nuclear-armed Russia as it occupies swathes of Ukraine. Zelensky, who has achieved hero status in much of the West for his media-savvy defiance of Russia, voiced open annoyance at the last NATO summit in Lithuania's capital Vilnius over the failure to provide a clearer path to membership. In Washington, the US is seeking to play down his expectations, speaking of creating a "bridge" to membership but making clear that quick entry is not on the cards. Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said negotiations were ongoing on the final language and that he was hopeful for a word such as "irreversible" to describe Ukraine's path to NATO. Ukraine has also been clamoring for greater air defenses to protect cities being barraged by Russia. Biden promised on Monday an additional Patriot system, on top of two new systems being given by Germany and Romania and one which the Netherlands has said it is putting together with parts from other allies.
Source: manilatimes.net
Comments