October 13, 2022—As NATO ministers met in Brussels yesterday and today, Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine’s capital and nine other cities was fresh on their minds. The war intensified, and NATO and the G7 nations of Western countries strengthened their support for Ukraine.
Ukraine has asked the military alliance of 30 countries to fast track its request for membership. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that would lead to World War II. And many NATO-member leaders took heed.
“We do not want world war,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter.
Germany, meanwhile, is leading the effort to strengthen Europe’s military defense.
Air Defense System
While NATO treads lightly on expansion. Today, 14 NATO members agreed to jointly develop an air defense system, called “European Sky Shield Initiative,” using off-the-shelf equipment.
The countries joining the air defense shield are Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, and the United Kingdom. Finland also joins the plan. Finland and Sweden hope to join NATO.
Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Austin said he is providing systems to meet Ukraine’s immediate needs as well as building new systems that will take years to produce. He dismissed Russia’s warnings, saying that NATO poses no threat to Russia.
“This is Russia’s war of choice,” Austin said. “Putin started this war as a matter of choice. And he certainly has a choice to cease his aggressive behavior and redeploy his forces from the sovereign territory of Ukraine.”
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