NATO agrees to boost forces in Eastern Europe and pledges more military aid to Ukraine

NATO countries also agreed to “reset” the long-term strategy, the main goal of which will be to structurally strengthen the eastern flank of NATO – the countries of Eastern Europe. Perhaps there will be some kind of permanent stationing of NATO forces in those countries. There will also be more aircraft, missile systems, and more ships. Efforts are also increasing in the field of cyber security. Stoltenberg said concrete details of the “reset” would not be determined until the next summit in June in Madrid.

A video message from Ukrainian President Zelensky was shown at the beginning of the meeting (see below). He has asked NATO for more military assistance. The coalition is also responding, Stoltenberg said, even though Ukraine is not getting everything it asked for. These include anti-tank weapons, drones and anti-aircraft systems. NATO will also provide more “significant financial and humanitarian assistance” and will also provide Ukraine with the equipment needed to protect itself from potential attacks with biological, chemical, radiological or nuclear weapons, as well as training programs to deal with potential contamination from such weapons.

Asked whether there was any concrete evidence that Russia intended to deploy such weapons in Ukraine, Stoltenberg said Russia was “creating an excuse” to allow their deployment. For example, Russia accuses the West of owning chemical plants in Ukraine for some time. “We know that Russia possesses these weapons and has already used them against its opposition and in a NATO country (a former spy was poisoned in the British city of Salisbury) we are in a dangerous situation,” Stoltenberg said. He noted that the use of such weapons in Ukraine could also affect the neighboring countries of NATO.