February 14, 2023—As the war in Ukraine intensifies even beyond the intense fighting that has taken place to do, the NATO alliance and its members are amping up their support for Ukraine.
NATO defense ministers and staff met in Brussels today to plan to provide more military support for Ukraine, increase the production of defense equipment, and strengthen and replenish members’ own stocks of goods.
Support for Ukraine includes training pilots, heavy weaponry, the modern air defence systems, the ammunition, and tanks.
Asked by a reporter ahead of the meeting about the NATO’s involvement in supplying equipment to Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said it is right to support Ukraine’s fight to maintain its sovereignty.
“Neither NATO nor NATO Allies are party to the conflict,” Stoltenberg said today. “What we do as NATO Allies and NATO, is to provide support to Ukraine. Ukraine is defending itself, we need to understand what this is. This is a war of aggression. President Putin, Russia, has attacked a sovereign independent democratic free nation in Europe, Ukraine. And of course, Ukraine has the right to defend itself.”
NATO Partners And Finland And Sweden Membership
Defense ministers also discussed NATO support for Georgia, Moldova, Bosnia & Herzegovina and the membership acsension process for Finland and Sweden.
To date, all 30 NATO members signed a protocol supporting the entry of Finland and Sweden into the alliance. Of those, 28 countries ratified the protocals. For instance, the U.S. Senate agreed by a vote of 95-1 to ratify the protocols allowing Finland and Sweden to join. Parliaments in Turkey and Hungary have yet to sign off on the expansion of the alliance. Now, there is talk of ratifying the protocols for Finland and Sweden separately. Turkey’s leaders have expressed reservation due to there being Kurdish asylum seekers in the two Nordic countries.
Meanwhile, both Finland and Sweden are integrating into NATO’s military and civilian structures, Stoltenberg said.
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