NATO: Trump's statements hang over the meeting of NATO defense ministers
The 31 NATO defense ministers are meeting in Brussels this Thursday after having participated yesterday in a meeting of 54, that of the contact group for the defense of Ukraine, known as the “Ramstein Group”. In addition to Ukraine, Donald Trump's statements last Saturday, announcing his intention to let Russia attack countries that do not spend enough on their defense, shook up the agenda to put the spotlight on military spending...
NATO-United States Summit, archive of 04/12/2019. AP - Francisco Seco
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Ukraine should again be the main point on the agenda of defense ministers this Thursday with following their meeting a session of the NATO-Ukraine Council, the body created since the Russian offensive to speak as equals. equal with the political and military authorities in Kiev.
Earlier this morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced his upcoming visits to Berlin and Paris on Friday. In Berlin, he will meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, announced the Ukrainian presidency. Germany is negotiating a security agreement with kyiv, the conclusion of which is expected soon. In France, he will sign a bilateral security agreement with Emmanuel Macron, a few days before
his country enters its third year of war
with Russia. Then Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Munich to participate in the annual Security Conference.
Ukraine , in difficulty on the military front, is increasing bilateral contacts to
obtain
a consequent increase in material aid. The cessation of American aid is already having an “impact” on the battlefield, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned this Thursday morning. kyiv announced this morning that it had to urgently deploy reinforcements to Avdiïvka, the epicenter of intense fighting and bombardments. The situation has evolved rapidly in recent days in this industrial city of Donbass ravaged by fighting, where the position of the Ukrainian defenders has been increasingly precarious since Russia launched its offensive in October to complete its encirclement of the city.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: the new army commander considers the situation “extremely complex”
Trumpian controversy over spending by European allies within NATO
Another issue, the recent declarations of candidate Trump at the House, affirming that thanks to his presidency, the European allies have increased their spending which everyone here now rejects, even the Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg who had always used a your conciliatory with him. It was the 2014 commitments to spend 2% of gross domestic product on defense and then the war in Ukraine that caused military spending to skyrocket, underlines our correspondent in Brussels,
Pierre Benazet
.
Jens Stoltenberg revealed yesterday that 18 countries would reach the objective this year while in 2023, there were only 11. All the countries are giving a very sensitive push, including France, as highlighted this morning by
Sébastien Lecornu
, Minister French Army. “
Our French national defense budget, around thirty billion euros in 2017, will ultimately be at 69 billion euros, which allows me to confirm to you that France will meet the 2% objective given by NATO – 2% of GDP – in this year 2024. The real question, now, is not so much to obtain these 2%, it is to ensure, obviously, that these 2% of GDP be truly useful in the military field. Efforts that each member of the Alliance must make to ensure and assume collective security, and obviously, also, deterrence postures
. »
Donald Trump's shocking declarations also have the merit of serving as motivation for all Europeans, even Germany, whose Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised on Tuesday to achieve the minimum objective of 2% in military spending...
(and with AFP)
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