British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden talk as they arrive at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2022.
Brendan Smialowski | Reuters
NATO has agreed to strengthen its defenses in Europe in the face of Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine.
Speaking after an extraordinary summit of the military alliance in Brussels on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters that the organization had generally agreed to strengthen its defense capabilities in the region. area.
“Today, NATO leaders agreed to reset our deterrence and defense measures over the longer term to face a new security reality. On land, we will have more significantly more force in the eastern part of the coalition with a higher level of readiness, with more equipment and supplies pre-positioned,” he said.
“In the air, we will deploy more jets and strengthen our combined air and missile defense capabilities. At sea, we will have carrier strike groups, submarines. and a substantial number of warships consistently,” he added. strengthen their cyber defenses.
More details will be decided at the alliance’s next summit in June, Stoltenberg said. An alliance statement at the end of the meeting called Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, “a threat.” most critical to Euro-Atlantic security in decades.”
“Russia’s war against Ukraine has disrupted peace in Europe and is causing immense human suffering and destruction,” it said.
Global leaders gathered in Europe on Thursday to discuss the war in Ukraine and how to help the country survive a Russian onslaught. As well as the extraordinary NATO summit taking place in Brussels, there are meetings of EU and G-7 leaders.
Ahead of the summit, Stoltenberg said the coalition meeting was taking place as leaders face “the most serious security crisis in a generation.”
Leaders will address this crisis and its impact “on Ukraine, on NATO and on the entire international rules-based order,” he said.
Stoltenberg, who extended his term as secretary-general by a year, said NATO had agreed to increase its military presence in the eastern region of the alliance, with about 40,000 additional troops deployed to the region. and substantial air and naval forces were equipped. under the direct command of NATO.
NATO earlier announced the creation of four new combat groups in the eastern part of the alliance, in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. These four new battle groups will join four others already present in the Baltic countries and Poland.
Stoltenberg made separate comments to CNBC on Thursday in which he said that “President [Vladimir] Putin made a big mistake and that was to wage war, to wage war, against an independent sovereign state.”
“He underestimated the strength of the Ukrainian people, the bravery of the Ukrainian people and the armed forces,” he told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also addressed NATO members on Thursday and stated in his speech that Russia used a phosphorus bomb in an attack.
“This morning we received phosphorus bombs from Russia, people were killed, children were killed,” Zelenskyy said in a speech via videolink to the NATO summit.
Separately, early on Thursday, the governor of the eastern region of Luhansk announced that four people had been killed following shelling and the use of phosphorus. The governor attached still photos and an unverified video, which he claimed showed buildings destroyed in the attack.
It is not possible to independently verify the statements of Zelenskyy and the governor of Luhansk. Zelenskyy did not provide proof in his address.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon was unable to confirm the use of phosphorus when contacted by NBC’s Dan DeLuce.
Zelenskyy also called on NATO leaders on Thursday to increase military support for the country.
Zelenskyy said in a videotaped speech ahead of the NATO summit, Russia “wants to go further, against NATO’s eastern members, the Baltic states, Poland.”
“NATO has yet to show what the alliance can do to save the people,” he said.
