NATO summit: Leaders hold talks with Indo-Pacific nations
Published July 11, 2024last updated July 11, 2024
What you need to know
The NATO summit in Washington wraps up Thursday with further talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then engagement with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand about common security interests.
The talks conclude the three-day summit that began with the marking of the alliance's 75th anniversary celebration.
NATO leaders announced that there would be further military support for Ukraine with a pledge of €40 billion ($43 billion).
The leaders of the 32 member states also said Ukraine was on an "irreversible path" towards NATO membership.
Possibility of 'direct confrontation' between Russia and NATO 'worrying,' Erdogan says
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday expressed concern about a possible direct confrontation involving NATO and Russia, Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported.
"The possibility of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia is undoubtedly worrying," said Erdogan, who is in Washington for a NATO summit. "Any steps that could lead to this outcome should be consciously avoided."
Erdogan's comments came as Russia's Foreign Ministry said it was planning "response measures" to contain the "very serious threat" from the alliance.
The United States and Germany announced on Wednesday that they would begin deploying long-range fire capabilities in Germany in 2026 to demonstrate commitment to NATO and European defense.
Russia says response 'will be determined' on US missiles in Germany
Russia's Foreign Ministry is planning its response after it was announced the United States would deploy long-range missiles in Germany, according to Russian media.
"The nature of our response will be determined calmly and professionally. The military, without a doubt, has already taken this message into consideration," Russian state news agency RIA quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.
"We will, of course, analyze what specific systems are being discussed," Ryabkov said.
In a statement issued on the sidelines of the NATO summit on Wednesday, the US and Germany said that "episodic deployments" are in preparation for longer-term stationing of such capabilities.
This would include SM-6, Tomahawk and developmental hypersonic weapons with longer range than the current capabilities in Europe.
"These actions are aimed primarily at damaging the security of our country, regardless of whether the chances of some future arms control negotiations will increase as a result or whether they will come to naught and go into the negative," RIA quoted Ryabkov as saying.
NATO and Ukraine: 'The stronger the signal these days, the better," foreign relations expert tells DW
Gustav Gressel, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), told DW that Russia's summer offensive in Ukraine was still in full swing and that Ukraine's military ranks were stretched thin.
"Ukraine has battled the Russian offensive quite well so far," Gressel said. "By autumn, of course, the tide could stall, but Western assistance is good for the end of the year, or into the spring."
There was a question of where things could stand in terms of future international assistance considering the US presidential elections in November. Likely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has implied he might cut funding for Ukraine, and Republican Party lawmakers earlier this year held up a bill to provide aid to Ukraine for weeks.
On the topic of a timeline for Ukraine joining NATO, or lack thereof, Gressel said being in a state of war made any timeline quite difficult to predict.
"A political invitation with a clause that if conditions are met would be, of course, a stronger signal, but, in practice, Ukraine knows that as long the war is ongoing in the current phase, NATO membership is pretty difficult to achieve," Gressel said.
He added that Ukraine was determining its own path by not becoming a Russian satellite.
"Ukraine fights for its independence and Ukraine fights for its sovereignty. Ukraine had tried to choose a different path than a Russia satellite for decades," Gressel said, adding that NATO membership was being seen as a long-term "security guarantee that they will not be ever again a Russian satellite."
Gressel said many Ukrainians were willing to die for such a guarantee: "They don't die for any particular president or for a political party. They die for their kids growing up in a country that has chosen the path of independence."
"Hence I think, the stronger the signal these days, the better," Gressel said.
Final day of NATO summit in Washington
NATO leaders are meeting for a third and final day in Washington, with more talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expected.
On Wednesday, the alliance's 32 member states pledged to spend $40 billion ($43 billion) in the next year and declared that Ukraine's path to NATO membership was "irreversible."
The commitment put forth was less, however, than the multi-year plan proposed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The alliance's leaders will turn their attention east and discuss common security interests with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian on Wednesday accused NATO of "acting beyond its characterization as a regional defensive alliance, inserting itself into the Asia-Pacific to incite confrontation and rivalry."
kb/sms (dpa, AFP, Reuters, AP)