The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, which will be held in the Spanish capital Madrid for 3 days starting today, will discuss the alliance’s vision for 2030, the challenges of the Russian war on Ukraine, and the file of accession of Sweden and Finland, at a time when a senior US official announced that During the summit, his country will make specific commitments regarding its military presence in Europe.

The Secretary-General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, called on member states - hours before the opening of the summit - to continue providing support to Ukraine, as he saw that Kyiv was facing "a brutality not known to Europe since World War II" as a result of the Russian war.

"We will agree on a full support program for Ukraine to help ensure that its right to legitimate self-defence is respected," he said.

NATO members sent billions of dollars in weapons to Kyiv to help it confront Russian forces, and the alliance is supposed to agree to an additional joint package during the Madrid summit, including secure communications equipment, anti-aircraft systems and training to help Ukraine use more advanced Western weapons in the long term.

Before the start of the summit, US President Joe Biden held talks with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and pledged at a joint press conference to boost the flow of equipment to Ukraine and provide more aid, and said, "We are in one bloc, in defense of Ukraine."


US military commitments

For his part, the Spanish Prime Minister said that he discussed with Biden the intensification of the American presence in the Spanish naval bases.

Washington intends to increase the number of US destroyers at the Rota naval base in southern Spain, from 4 to 6.

In the same context, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said - in statements he made aboard US Air Force One - that his country will make "specific announcements" during the summit regarding "new, long-term military commitments on land, at sea and in the air" in Europe, especially eastern Europe. the continent.

Sullivan added that a number of NATO countries would also pledge to increase their defense contributions to the eastern flank, with special emphasis on the Baltic Sea region.

Earlier, the White House said that the summit will discuss the consequences of the Russian war on Ukraine, and will take "historic" decisions to strengthen the common defense and security of the alliance countries.

During the first day, the NATO Diplomacy Forum will be held with the participation of heads of state in discussion sessions, as well as countries from outside the alliance, such as Japan, Australia and Ukraine.

Quartet meeting on the sidelines of the summit to discuss Turkish objections to the accession of Finland and Sweden (Anatolia)

NATO expansion

Before the opening of the summit, a four-way meeting was held between the presidents of Turkey and Finland, the Prime Minister of Sweden and the Secretary General of NATO, to discuss the outstanding issues regarding Ankara's objection to Sweden and Finland joining the alliance.

The Swedish Foreign Minister, Anne Linde, said - earlier - that her country's negotiations with Turkey had progressed, and heralded a breakthrough.

On the other hand, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that President Joe Biden is expected to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the summit.

Among the files discussed at the summit is also the relationship with China, as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance does not consider China an adversary, and that it will soon become the largest economy in the world, and there is a need to communicate with it on several issues, such as climate change.

However, he added, "We are disappointed by the fact that China did not condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and spread many false stories about NATO and the West, and that China and Russia are getting closer now than ever."

On the other hand, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that NATO's classification of his country as a threat to the alliance would not constitute anything new for the activities of the alliance and the United States.

He added that NATO members considered Russia their enemy for a long time before the Madrid summit, stressing that the alliance's strengthening of its capabilities on the eastern side is a continuation of the "unacceptable line in approaching the borders of the alliance to Russia."