NATO foreign ministers discussed in their two-day meeting in Brussels strengthening the alliance and increasing military support for Ukraine (European)

On the 75th anniversary of its founding, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pledged to strengthen its strength and stressed the importance of the relationship between its American and European wings, while Russia said that relations with the alliance continue to deteriorate.

On the second day of their meeting in Brussels today, Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and the foreign ministers of member states celebrated the anniversary of the signing in Washington on April 4, 1949, of the North Atlantic Treaty, which established a political and military alliance across the ocean.

Stoltenberg said that the alliance not only strengthens Europe, but also makes North America stronger, noting that each party needs the other in order to ensure common security.

Stoltenberg told reporters yesterday in Brussels, "We will continue to strengthen our alliance... and we will continue to work with our partners around the world for peace and security."

In Moscow, Alexander Grushko, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, said that relations between Russia and NATO are deteriorating “expectedly and deliberately,” according to what Russian official media reported.

Grushko added that the United States and European countries have brought all channels of dialogue between Moscow and NATO to a "critical zero" level.

The Russian official confirmed that his country has no intention of starting a military conflict with the alliance or its members.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said yesterday, Wednesday, that the alliance has returned to the Cold War mentality, adding that NATO has no place in the "multipolar world" that Russia says it seeks to build to end what it describes as American hegemony.

Stoltenberg said that support for Ukraine should be more dependent on long-term NATO commitments (Anatolia)

Support Ukraine

In addition to promoting discussion of issues related to strengthening NATO, the Brussels meeting discussed increasing support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Today, NATO foreign ministers met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and they agreed yesterday to begin planning to play a greater role in coordinating military aid to Kiev.

Kuleba told Reuters that he would pressure his NATO counterparts to provide more Patriot air defense systems to deal with repeated Russian missile attacks.

Diplomats reported that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg proposed establishing a fund worth 100 billion euros (about 108 billion dollars) to support the Ukrainian army over a period of 5 years.

Stoltenberg said he believes support for Ukraine should be less dependent on short-term voluntary offers and more dependent on long-term NATO commitments.

He continued that the reason behind the alliance doing this is the dangerous situation on the battlefield in Ukraine in light of the continued Russian pressure to achieve victory.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies