The 29 NATO members on Thursday looked for new ways to counter what they described as rising aggression by Russia as the alliance celebrated its 70th birthday.
Despite rifts between the US and allies Germany and Turkey, foreign ministers were looking to show a united front on NATO’s core concern: Russia.
After years of focusing on more faraway challenges such as Afghanistan, NATO allies have increasingly voiced worry about the trajectory of Russia under President Vladimir Putin.
“We will agree on new measures of support for our close partners Georgia and Ukraine,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters ahead of Thursday’s session.
NATO would also address “the aggressive actions of Russia” in the Black Sea, he added.
Russia — which has resented NATO’s eastward expansion — in November last year fired on and seized three Ukrainian navy vessels, capturing two dozen sailors, near the Kerch Strait off Crimea.
US Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison earlier said that the alliance was preparing a package to “assure that there is safe passage for Ukrainian vessels through the Kerch Strait.”
She said that NATO allies would send more ships to the area to ensure that “countries in and around the Black Sea are safe from Russian meddling.”
Russia criticized the Black Sea plan and, in a statement for the NATO anniversary, voiced regret that the alliance “has no intention to renounce its political and military confrontation with Russia.”
“It is time to stop bringing back the ‘eastern threat.’ In the interest of peace, the world needs a de-escalation of military and political tensions,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, opening a session with the ministers, said that NATO needs to confront “Russian aggression,” but also “emerging threats” such as China and Iran.
Pompeo has also been seeking with limited success to persuade US allies not to choose Chinese telecom giant Huawei for their 5G networks, warning that the company poses risks to security and personal privacy.
The US has been livid at Germany for its budgetary plans that do not come close to the NATO goal of spending 2 percent on defense spending.
“Now is not the time to repeat tired excuses that our citizens don’t support increased defense or security spending. Each nation has the duty to make the case to our people,” Pompeo said.
NATO allies have also seen rising friction with Turkey, which has been clamping down on dissent and has insisted on buying a major missile defense system from Russia, even after the US suspended its participation in the F-35 program.
The NATO meeting is also witnessing the end to a long-running standoff with the participation of the foreign minister of North Macedonia.
The former Yugoslav republic had been in limbo for years, with Greece objecting to the name of Macedonia, which is historically tied to Hellenic rather than Slavic civilization.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras brokered a deal to welcome the country after it changed its name to North Macedonia and it is expected to enter NATO as its 30th member later this year.
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