Page 5 - Nato Alliance

S Korean prez to discuss Pyongyang's 'distinct threat' to Europe at Nato

Seoul would make a decision on weapons support for Ukraine based on how a new military pact between Moscow and Pyongyang plays out

Nato summit hosted by Prez Biden to show strong support for Ukraine

The NATO summit, being hosted by US President Joe Biden here this week, is likely to show a strong demonstration of America and its allies' support for Ukraine and make significant new announcements to increase military, political and financial support for the European country, in addition to holding a meeting with the EU and Indo-Pacific partners to deepen their cooperation, according to administration officials. The NATO summit will be the first to include Sweden as a member of the alliance. Sweden officially joined the alliance in March. The historic summit would also mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which is now a strong military alliance of 32 countries. "It has been truly indispensable to Euro-Atlantic security, deterring threats to the United States and our allies," a senior administration official told reporters ahead of the summit. Being held in the American capital, within days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi havi

Don't go too far in weapon support to Ukraine: Putin's message to West

The message to NATO from President Vladimir Putin was simple and stark: Don't go too far in providing military support for Ukraine, or you'll risk a conflict with Russia that could quickly turn nuclear. As the war in Ukraine turns slowly in Moscow's favour, Putin declared he doesn't need nuclear weapons to achieve his goals. But he also says it's wrong for the West to assume that Russia will never use them. It mustn't be treated in a light, superficial way, Putin said in June, reaffirming that Russia's nuclear doctrine calls for using atomic weapons if it perceives a threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Moscow's nuclear messaging coming as NATO allies move to shore up exhausted and outgunned Ukrainian forces heralds what could become the most dangerous phase in the war. Drills, threats and signals Moscow has carried out drills with its tactical or battlefield nuclear weapons in southern Russia and with ally Belarus, where some were deployed in 2023. Russian Def

Nato summit, mending EU relations among first tasks for new UK PM Starmer

New British Prime Minister Keir Starmer doesn't get to take a breather. After a draining six-week election campaign, the center-left politician must get straight to work assembling his government, tackling a mountain of domestic problems and putting his stamp on the U.K.'s relations with the rest of the world. It's a daunting list for a new leader who has never served in, much less led, a government. But Starmer, who was officially appointed prime minister Friday, insisted that he is up to the challenge of heading the U.K. in a world that is a more volatile place than it has been for many years. Appoint a government Like someone moving into a new home with their IKEA furniture, Starmer's first task was to assemble a Cabinet. Starmer began putting together his government soon after he walked through the door of 10 Downing St. on Friday afternoon following his landslide election victory. He has a plethora of lawmakers to choose from - his Labour Party won more than 400 seats in ...

Nato to pour weapons into Ukraine for another year, no membership yet

NATO leaders plan to pledge next week to keep pouring arms and ammunition into Ukraine at current levels for at least another year, hoping to reassure the war-ravaged country of their ongoing support and show Russian President Vladimir Putin that they will not walk away. US President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet in Washington for a three-day summit beginning Tuesday to mark the military alliance's 75th anniversary as Russian troops press their advantage along Ukraine's eastern front in the third year of the war. Speaking to reporters Friday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO's 32 member countries have been spending around 40 billion euros (USD 43 billion) each year on military equipment for Ukraine since the war began in February 2022 and that this should be a minimum baseline going forward. I expect allies will decide at the summit to sustain this level within the next year, Stoltenberg said. He said the amount would be shared among nations based on their ...

Nato to issue first defence industrial pledge, urges arms production boost

Although there is a Nato standard for artillery ammunition, its implementation is voluntary

Geopolitics remains by far the biggest risk to markets, says Chris Wood

Back home, the midcap segment, Wood said, remains vulnerable to a correction. He believes there will also be a temptation for investors to tilt the portfolio more towards consumption plays

Nato selects Dutch PM Mark Rutte as new boss amid ongoing Ukraine war

Rutte's appointment became a formality after his only rival for the post, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, announced last week that he had quit the race

Leader of Nato member Poland visits China, hopes to talk Ukraine with Xi

Poland's President Andrzej Duda is in China on a visit that brings the leader of a NATO member to a country that has backed Russia in its full-on invasion of Ukraine. I am trying to maintain friendly relations with China, Poland has always had decent relations with China and I would like that to be continued," Duda said in an interview on private Radio Zet on Friday. He was scheduled to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Monday and has said peace in Ukraine will be discussed. Asked if he believes that China is holding a key to peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Duda said: I think that to a large degree, yes. While China says it is neutral in the fighting, it has blamed NATO's expansion for provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin into launching the invasion and has maintained robust trade and diplomatic relations with Moscow. Poland borders Ukraine and has provided refuge for those fleeing the fighting and maintained a hard line against further expansion of Russian ...

Over 20 NATO allies likely to hit defence spending target amid Ukraine war

A record more than 20 NATO member nations are expected to hit the Western military alliance's defence spending target this year, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday, as the war in Ukraine drives worldwide concerns. The estimated figure, announced by Stoltenberg during a talk at the Wilson Centre in Washington, marks a nearly fourfold increase from 2021 in the ranks of the 32 NATO member nations meeting the alliance's defense spending guideline. Only six nations were meeting the goal that year, ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. NATO member countries agreed last year to spend at least 2 per cent of their gross domestic product on defence. The surge in spending reflects the worries of Western allies about the war in Ukraine. Some countries also are concerned about the possible reelection of former President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly characterised many NATO allies as freeloading on US military spending and said on the ...

Navigating a MAD world

Mutually assured destruction is the cornerstone of strategies to prevent nuclear war, but the leaders in charge of the codes hardly inspire confidence

Canada's may be on track to align with Nato's military spending guidelines

Canada looks on track to meet NATO's military spending guideline soon, Defence Minister Bill Blair said Friday, notably by boosting investment in the Arctic near its shared border with Russia as the region warms quickly due to climate change. After Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, NATO allies agreed to halt budget cuts and move toward spending 2% of their gross domestic product on defense within a decade. Canada was barely spending 1% at the time. Last year, as it became clear that Russia's war with Ukraine would grind on, they decided that 2% should be a spending minimum. According to NATO figures, Canada was estimated to be spending 1.33% of GDP on its military budget in 2023. My defence spending budget will increase by 27% next year over this year, Blair said at a meeting with his NATO counterparts in Brussels. We've begun the important processes of acquiring the additional capabilities that we require (and) to meet NATO's requirements of us. He said that Cana

Security deal with US is 'bridge' to Ukraine's Nato membership: Zelenskyy

Zelenskyy made the remarks at a joint news conference with US President Joe Biden, which was held on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy on Thursday

Russia could provide weapons to others to strike Western targets: Putin

Taking questions from international journalists for the first time since his inauguration last month to a fifth term, Putin also said nothing will change in terms of Russia-US relations

Ukraine using German weapons to strike Russia 'dangerous step' warns Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Germany on Wednesday that use of its weapons by Ukraine to strike targets in Russia would mark a dangerous step" and ruin relations between Berlin and Moscow. Germany joined the United States recently in authorizing Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons they are supplying. Putin said that the deliveries of German tanks to Ukraine came as a shock to many in Russia. Now if they use missiles to strike facilities on the Russian territory it will completely ruin Russian-German relations, he said.

US trying to build Asia-Pacific version of Nato, says Chinese official

The US is trying to build an Asia-Pacific version of NATO through its Indo-Pacific strategy to maintain its hegemony in the region, a Chinese defence official has said, stressing that Washington's attempt to serve its selfish" geopolitical interest is doomed to fail. The remarks by Lieutenant General Jing Jianfeng, deputy chief of staff of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, came in response to US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin's speech during the Shangri La Dialogue on Saturday in which he spoke about strengthening alliances and partnerships across the region. Held annually in Singapore, the Shangri La Dialogue is Asia's premier defence summit. Lieutenant-General Jing warned that if regional countries were to sign up for the US' Indo-Pacific strategy, they would be bound to the US war chariot and be lured into taking bullets for the US. He termed Austin's remarks as rhetoric" that "sounds good but does no good, one that serves selfish US geopolitical

Russia proposes revising borders of territorial waters in Baltic Sea

Ministry proposed adjusting the border around Russian islands in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland and around Kaliningrad

Putin's next target after Ukraine may be Nato's Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia

With the addition this year of Sweden and last spring of Finland to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Baltic Sea has been dubbed a 'Nato lake' by some analysts

Biden hosts Prez of Romania at White House to celebrate Nato partnership

President Joe Biden hosted Klaus Iohannis, the president of Romania, on Tuesday at the White House, with the two leaders celebrating their joint cooperation on issues including international security, the economy and continued support for Ukraine. The meeting in the Oval Office was meant to mark Romania's two decades as a NATO member, according to the White House. At the start of the meeting, Biden joked he advocated for NATO accession for Romania when he was a senator 180 years ago and said the alliance was stronger for the country's inclusion. Biden noted that Romanian and American troops have fought and trained alongside one another and praised Romania for having stepped up to assist Ukraine in fending Russia's invasion. The United States is committed to standing with you, Biden told Iohannis. In turn, Iohannis thanked Biden for hosting him and called the transatlantic alliance a cornerstone of our democratic way of life. He said he intended to make progress toward a visa waiver

Russia will have to increase missile arsenal to deter West, says diplomat

Russia has ramped up weapons production and is now forecast by the United States to manufacture this year more artillery than all of Nato's 32 members combined