NATO is celebrating its 75th anniversary this Thursday, more than ever concerned about Ukraine. Born on April 4, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has “built the strongest alliance in history”, its Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday. Seventy-five years later, Europe is “confronted with a war on a scale that we thought was over,” said Jens Stoltenberg.
The NATO Secretary General did not hide his concern about the situation on the front in Ukraine, asking the Allies to quickly respond to the “urgent needs” of this country in ammunition, artillery and especially in anti-aircraft defense means. Russian troops are prepared to suffer considerable losses for minimal territorial gains, with “very little respect for human life”, he noted. “This is why the situation on the front is so difficult,” he insisted. NATO wants to commit sustainably alongside Ukraine, in difficulty facing Russian forces, and began on Wednesday discussing an aid fund of 100 billion euros to better support kyiv. This proposal, however, arouses skepticism among some of the organization’s member states, who question the financing of such a fund.
Information to remember
⇒ Five people died in new strikes on Kharkiv
⇒ France denies having discussed a possible “dialogue” on Ukraine with Russia
⇒ Finnish president signs security agreement with Ukraine
Five dead in Russian strikes on Kharkiv
At least five people died and around ten others injured during the night from Wednesday to Thursday following new Russian strikes targeting Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, and the Sumy region (north-east), announced authorities. In Kharkiv, located not far from the border with Russia, three rescuers died during a “second strike” on a place which had just been bombed in a “densely populated district of Kharkiv”, announced Mayor Igor Terekhov .
A total of twelve people were injured in total “to varying degrees”, he said. The Minister of the Interior, Igor Klimenko, denounced on Telegram a “cynical” strike. The three rescuers, all men, were 32, 41 and 52 years old, he said. A fourth rescuer is among the injured.
Paris denies having discussed a possible “dialogue” on Ukraine with Moscow
France expressed no “disposition to dialogue” with Moscow on the war in Ukraine during the telephone exchange between the French Minister of the Armed Forces and his Russian counterpart, Sébastien Lecornu’s entourage assured AFP on Wednesday evening.
The Russian minister affirmed during this interview “to be ready to resume the dialogue on Ukraine” but “France has neither accepted nor proposed anything” on this subject, underlined the entourage of the French minister, denying the assertions from the Russian government according to which Sébastien Lecornu and Sergei Choïgu showed themselves “willing to dialogue” on Wednesday concerning the conflict in Ukraine.
Berlin, Paris and Warsaw call for “not to rest on our laurels”
In a joint statement released on Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her French, Stéphane Séjourné, and Polish counterparts, Radoslaw Sikorski, insisted on the need for Allies to stand by Ukraine. “We must not rest on our laurels, we must accept the fact that this moment can define the future in which our children will live,” underline these foreign ministers, who in this declaration call on all NATO countries to devote at least 2% of their GDP to military spending. This objective was set in 2014 by the Alliance but only around twenty of its members reached this threshold.
Ukraine is demanding more military aid from its allies in the face of the Russian army, now on the offensive on the ground and shelling Ukrainian energy infrastructure. “Ukraine is currently the only country in the world that defends itself against ballistic missiles almost every day,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba said on Wednesday on X, upon his arrival at NATO headquarters. This is why “all Patriot missiles” – used for anti-aircraft defense – available in the world should be sent to Ukraine “as soon as possible”, he said.
Finnish president signs security agreement in Ukraine
Finnish President Alexander Stubb signed a security agreement with Ukraine on Wednesday during a trip to kyiv, where he met Volodymyr Zelensky and announced new aid including munitions and air defense. In this ten-year agreement, Finland promises to “continue to provide long-term military, political and financial support” to Ukraine “as long as necessary”.
Ukraine has signed bilateral security agreements with seven other partner countries in recent weeks, seeking to consolidate its Western alliances at a time when its army is struggling against Russian troops.
On Wednesday, Alexander Stubb also announced “a 23rd package” of aid to kyiv, which “represents 188 million euros of mainly military aid”. “It includes, among other things, air defense and heavy munitions,” he said during a joint press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky, without giving further details.