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Ukraine Invasion Day 505: more bilateral defense agreements during 2nd day of NATO summit [1]
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Date: 2023-07-12
2% of GDP is now a NATO membership floor rather than a ceiling for NATO members.
Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Senior Fellow and Director, Transatlantic Security Program CNAS
The NATO Summit in Vilnius has been bitter-sweet. It was bitter because it was a missed opportunity for anchoring Ukraine more firmly in the West. The language in the NATO communique barely went further than the promise of eventual membership that alliance made to Ukraine at the 2008 Bucharest Summit. This was a missed opportunity to signal a more robust commitment to Ukraine and its future in the alliance. Ukraine itself recognizes that it cannot join NATO while the war is ongoing, but after 16 months of fighting against Russia’s invasion, the Alliance should have been able to deliver greater clarity and resolve.
However, there is a lot to be positive about. Sweden now has a green light for NATO membership. The Allies agreed that the 2% of GDP target for defense spending is a floor rather than a ceiling. NATO unveiled its regional defense planning. Even on Ukraine, the direction of travel, while slow, is positive. Although not fully reflected in the NATO Communique, it is clear that the ground has shifted in support of Ukraine’s NATO membership—it is no longer a question of if, but rather when. The United States appears especially isolated in its caution on the issue. However, it is plausible that the outcome in Vilnius simply reflects the Administration’s preference for incremental change, rather than sudden movements that they fear will provoke a Russian response. Just as the US has slowly ratcheted up its military support for Ukraine, one could interpret Vilnius as another US attempt at boiling the Kremlin frog—a small positive step that can pave the way for a more significant step at next year’s Washington Summit. NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg has acknowledged that Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO. We now have a year to make this more of a reality.
www.cnas.org/...
Ukraine secured additional bilateral security and defense agreements during the second day of the NATO summit on July 12. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov signed agreements with Swedish Defense Minister Paul Jonsson on cooperation in the field of defense procurement and with the French Defense Ministry on increasing French military assistance to Ukraine by 170 million euros. [6] The Ukrainian Presidential Office announced that Australia will send an additional 30 Bushmaster armored vehicles to Ukraine. [7] The UK government stated that the UK will provide Ukraine with an additional 50 million pounds in security assistance, including additional ammunition for Challenger tanks. [8] Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram stated that Norway will provide an additional NASAM (Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) support package, including two additional fire control centers, two launch units, and spare parts. [9] Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida noted that Japan will provide Ukraine with $30 million in non-lethal equipment including drone detection systems. [10]
www.understandingwar.org/...
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