Highlights: Foreign ministers of NATO countries are meeting this Wednesday and Thursday at the headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance in Brussels. For the first time, there are 32 people around the table, including the Swedish minister, whose country has been officially a member of the Alliance since March 7. This accession, which follows that of Finland, is also at the center of today's concerns for NATO, which now wants to refocus on its "core business", that is to say face-to-face with the Russia which marked most of its 75 years of existence.

NATO: meeting of foreign ministers with support for Ukraine in the background

The foreign ministers of NATO countries are meeting this Wednesday and Thursday at the headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance in Brussels. For the first time, there are 32 people around the table, including the Swedish minister, whose country has been officially a member of the Alliance since March 7. This accession, which follows that of Finland, is also at the center of today's concerns for NATO, which now wants to refocus on its "core business", that is to say face-to-face with the Russia which marked most of its 75 years of existence.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenbergv before a meeting with all foreign ministers of member countries at the headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance in Brussels, April 3, 2024. AP - Virginia Mayo

By: RFI Follow

With our correspondent in Brussels

Pierre Bénazet

The North Atlantic Treaty was

signed in Washington on April 4, 1949

and there will be a ceremony this Thursday, April 4 in the morning to officially mark this 75th anniversary, then a summit which will obviously be held in Washington in July. But until then, NATO must face a threat described as increasingly pressing by its secretary-general. This Wednesday, April 3, at the opening of the ministers' meeting, he affirmed that "

Europe is faced with the prospect of a war on a scale that we thought belonged to history

Since the

annexation of Crimea ten years ago,

we have seen a proliferation of declarations in NATO that are very reminiscent of the Cold War, but now the Secretary General is talking about the risk of a real conflict with Russia. A conflict similar to that which the Atlantic Alliance feared during the first four decades of its history. For Jens Stoltenberg, this Wednesday, it is now NATO which must guarantee military support for Ukraine in order to protect itself from such an armed confrontation.

This would be a considerable change because for the moment the allies have carefully avoided putting NATO on the front line.

The United States and Donald Trump

There is also a link with fears of a

return of Donald Trump to the White House

since his shadow hangs over the internal diplomacy of the allies. His presidency was mainly marked by threats against NATO which had no tangible negative effects, but this year, everyone seems to fear that he will carry out a withdrawal from the United States and call into question support to Ukraine.

Also read Donald Trump's remarks on NATO: a boost for European defense?

Until now, NATO had been kept away from the contact group called

the Ramstein group

, the coalition of around fifty countries which provide direct military support to Kiev, a coalition led by the United States. The allies therefore seem to fear less the Russian risk than the risk of an erosion of the American security guarantee and therefore want to take over the management of the Ramstein group to be able to decide at 32. They are even considering setting up a fund of one hundred billion euros over five years to set in stone their military support for the Ukrainian armies.

NATO: meeting of foreign ministers with support for Ukraine in the background

NATO: meeting of foreign ministers with support for Ukraine in the background

The United States and Donald Trump

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