Nato

UK steps up Ukraine aid as Western allies rally to secure arms, ammunition

Britain on Friday announced a surge of military support to Ukraine, as the war-ravaged country's Western backers gathered at NATO headquarters to drum up more weapons and ammunition to help fight off the Russian invasion. Britain said that in a joint effort with Norway just over $580 million would be spent to provide hundreds of thousands of military drones, radar systems and anti-tank mines, as well as repair and maintenance contracts to keep Ukrainian armoured vehicles on the battlefield. On the eve of the meeting in Brussels, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said a key issue was strengthening his country's air defences. Ukraine needs a sufficient number of modern systems like Patriot missile systems, he said in a post on social media. A political decision is needed to supply these systems to protect our cities, towns, and the lives of our people especially from the threat of Russian ballistic weapons. Our partners have such available systems, Umerov said. Russian forces

Defence chiefs from 30 nations to attend Nato talks on future Ukraine force

Britain and France are convening a meeting of defence ministers from around 30 countries on Thursday to press ahead with plans to deploy troops to Ukraine to police any future peace agreement with Russia. The meeting at NATO headquarters the first between defence ministers representing the so-called coalition of the willing comes after a visit to Kyiv last week by senior British and French military officers. It's expected to work on fleshing out an agreement reached at an earlier meeting between leaders. As usual with coalition gatherings, the United States will not take part, but the success of the coalition's operation hinges on US backup with airpower or other military assistance. However, the Trump administration has made no public commitment that it will do so. Amid that uncertainty and US warnings that Europe must take care of its own security and that of Ukraine in future, the force is seen as a first test of the continent's willingness to defend itself and its interests.

Japan interested in joining Nato command for supporting Ukraine's mission

Japan on Tuesday expressed interest in participating in the NATO command for its Ukrainian mission based in Germany in what would be a major boost in ties with the largely European alliance. Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani announced his country's interest during talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Tokyo. After providing the war-torn country with defence equipment and support, Japan now wants to join NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, or NSATU, headquartered at a US base in the German town of Wiesbaden. Details of the mission, including the possibility of sending any Japan Self Defence Force members to Wiesbaden, were still to be discussed. But any Japanese cooperation was not expected to involve combat, in line with what has been Tokyo's post-World War II tradition of limiting its military's role. Nakatani said Japan wants to further deepen security cooperation with NATO and that participation in the NSATU mission would help Tokyo learn lessons fro

US Navy Vice Admiral Chatfield fired in expanding national security purge

The information was not immediately confirmed by the Pentagon. However, the sources told Reuters that allies had been notified that Chatfield had been removed from her job

US is committed to Nato, but Europe must spend more on defence: Rubio

According to NATO estimates, some of the continent's big economies, such as Italy and Spain, are among those below the current 2 per cent target, at around 1.5 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively

Rubio arrives for Nato talks as allies await US plans on Europe drawdown

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration's new envoy to NATO arrived Thursday in Brussels, where the alliance's top diplomats are hoping they'll shed light on US security plans in Europe. European allies and Canada are deeply concerned by President Donald Trump's readiness to draw closer to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who sees NATO as a threat, as the US works to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. Recent White House comments and insults directed at NATO allies Canada and Denmark as well as the military alliance itself have raised alarm and confusion, especially with new US tariffs targeting US friends and foes alike. Since Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned last month that US security priorities lie elsewhere in Asia and on the US's own borders the Europeans have waited to learn how big a military drawdown in Europe could be and how fast it may happen. In Europe and Canada, governments are working on burden shifting plans to take over more of the load, .

Wary Europe awaits US Secretary of State Rubio with Nato's future on line

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels this week to a gathering of top diplomats from NATO countries and is sure to find allies that are alarmed, angered and confused by the Trump administration's desire to reestablish ties with Russia and its escalating rhetorical attacks on longtime transatlantic partners. Allies are deeply concerned by President Donald Trump's readiness to draw closer to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who sees NATO as a threat, amid a U.S. effort to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. Recent White House comments and insults directed at NATO allies Canada and Denmark as well as the military alliance itself have only increased the angst, especially as new US tariffs are taking effect against friends and foes alike. Rubio arrives in Brussels on Thursday for two days of meetings with his NATO counterparts and European officials, and he can expect to be confronted with questions about the future US role in the alliance. For 75 years, NATO has been anchored on American

Senate confirms Matt Whitaker as Donald Trump's ambassador to Nato

The Senate confirmed Matt Whitaker late Tuesday as President Donald Trump's US ambassador to NATO, a crucial emissary to the Western alliance at a time of growing concern about the American commitment abroad. Whitaker, who had served in Trump's first administration at the Justice Department, brings a law enforcement background rather than deep foreign policy or national security ties. He was confirmed by the Senate on a vote of 52-45. During a confirmation hearing, Whitaker assured senators that the Trump administration's commitment to the military alliance was ironclad. Trump has long been skeptical, and often hostile, toward the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which was formed by the US and other countries in the aftermath of World War II as a deterrent to potential aggression from what was then the Soviet Union. The US commitment has been called into question due to Trump's sharp criticism of European allies and his eagerness to build ties with Russian President Vladimir Put

In 'surprise visit', US delegation meets Afghanistan's foreign minister

The surprise visit coincides with speculation that the Trump administration 'reassessing' its approach to engaging with the Taliban

After Trump's call, Putin agrees to 30-day halt on striking Ukraine's infra

Following the Trump-Putin call, the Kremlin announced that Ukraine and Russia will exchange 175 prisoners of war each

Nato chief Mark Rutte says Russia relations should be restored after war

Rutte is walking a fine line between the US - Nato's most important member - and Europe, which is dealing with an increasingly aggressive Russia

Trump confident US will annex Greenland, says Nato chief could be key

Trump said the US needs Greenland for international security and hinted at future discussions on the matter

EU chief asks member nations to use European, not American defence systems

European Union countries must purchase military equipment made in Europe under a new loan programme meant to help the continent provide for its own security, a top EU official said Tuesday, even though most of its defence materiel currently comes from US suppliers. At a summit last week, the EU's 27 leaders weighed a European Commission proposal for a new loan plan worth 150 billion euros (USD 163 billion). It would be used to buy air defence systems, drones and strategic enablers like air transport, as well as to boost cybersecurity. These loans should finance purchases from European producers, to help boost our own defence industry, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers. Von der Leyen said the contracts should be multiannual, to give the industry the predictability they need and that the priority should be for countries to buy equipment together in groups because we have seen how powerful this can be. European NATO members have placed about two-thirds of th

Elon Musk backs US to exit NATO, questions funding Europe's defence

On March 3, Musk wrote on X he agreed with a suggestion by a conservative commentator that the US should leave both NATO and the United Nations

Trump casts doubt on Nato solidarity, despite it aiding US after Sept 11

President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed uncertainty that NATO would come to the US's defence if the country were attacked, though the alliance did just that after September 11 the only time in its history that the defence guarantee has been invoked. Trump also suggested that the US might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don't meet defence spending targets, a day after his pick for NATO ambassador assured senators that the administration's commitment to the military alliance was ironclad. Trump's comments denigrating NATO, which was formed to counter Soviet aggression during the Cold War, are largely in line with his yearslong criticism of the alliance, which he has accused of not paying its fair share toward the cost of defence. But they come at a time of heightened concern in the Western world over Trump's cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long seen NATO as a threat, and as the US president seeks to pressure Ukraine in

EU mulls 800 bn euro plan to beef up defences to counter 'US disengagement'

The chief of the European Union's executive on Tuesday proposed an 800 billion euro (USD 841 billion) plan to beef up defences of EU nations to lessen the impact of potential US disengagement and provide Ukraine with military muscle to negotiate with Russia following the freeze of US aid to the embattled nation. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the massive REARM Europe package will be put to the 27 EU leaders who will meet in Brussels on Thursday in an emergency meeting following a week of increasing political uncertainty from Washington, where President Donald Trump questioned both his alliance to the continent and the defence of Ukraine. I do not need to describe the grave nature of the threats that we face," von der Leyen said. Key to the quandary of EU nations has been an unwillingness to spend much on defense over the past decades as they hid under the US nuclear umbrella and a sluggish economy, which creates challenges for a quick ramp-up of such ...

Nato chief Rutte urges Zelenskyy to mend his relationship with Trump

He said he told Zelenskyy that "we really have to respect what President Trump has done so far for Ukraine"

If Ukraine does not join Nato, will have to create it within nation: Prez

This comes after he indicated that he was ready to quit as Ukraine's president if it meant Kyiv would be admitted to the Nato alliance

Oppn in Germany wins election, far right is 2nd with strongest result

German opposition leader Friedrich Merz's conservatives were on course for a lackluster victory in a national election Sunday, while Alternative for Germany nearly doubled its support, the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II, projections showed. Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat for his centre-left Social Democrats after what he called "a bitter election result". Projections for ARD and ZDF public television showed his party finishing in third place with its worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election. Merz vowed to move quickly to put together a coalition government. But that's likely to be a complicated task. The election took place seven months earlier than originally planned after Scholz's unpopular coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that was increasingly marred by infighting. There was widespread discontent and not much enthusiasm for any of the candidates. The campaign was dominated by worries about the years-lon

Ready to give up presidency if it brings peace, Nato membership: Zelenskyy

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday he would be ready to give up the presidency if it brought peace and NATO membership. Speaking at a forum of government officials in Kyiv marking the three-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said he would step down if doing so would achieve a lasting peace for his country under the security umbrella of the NATO military alliance. If to achieve peace, you really need me to give up my post, I'm ready, Zelenskyy said in response to a journalist's question on whether he'd trade his office for peace. I can trade it for NATO." Zelenskyy's comment appeared to be aimed at recent suggestions by US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that elections should be held in Ukraine despite Ukrainian legislation prohibiting them during martial law.