NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the world is going through a more dangerous and unpredictable period compared to the Cold War.
Stoltenberg, who warned that if the war in Ukraine turns into a conflict between Russia and NATO, the results will be much more devastating, stressed that NATO is not involved in the conflicts.
Stoltenberg, who made statements at the closing of the NATO Summit held in Madrid, the capital of Spain, said, “Has the world entered a more dangerous period than the cold war?” He answered the question as follows:
“We live in a more dangerous and more unpredictable world. We live in a world where there is a hot war in Europe. There are military operations in Europe that we have not seen since the Second World War.”
Talking about the risk of worsening the situation, Stoltenberg said, “If this turns into a war between Russia and NATO, we will face destruction on a much, much larger scale,” and continued:
“So NATO has two main tasks: one is to provide support to Ukraine, at this summit we decided to increase that support. But we also have a responsibility to prevent this conflict from spreading beyond Ukraine. That’s why NATO is not a party to the conflict on the ground. “
On the other hand, emphasizing that NATO will protect all of its territory, Stoltenberg stated that if Russia attacks NATO territory, the entire alliance will respond.
Stoltenberg said that Turkey is working to reach an agreement on the export of grain from Ukraine, and that Greece has offered to establish its ships to transport grain from Ukraine.
Additional assistance from the USA to Ukraine
US President Joe Biden also announced that they will announce a new military support package worth $800 million to Ukraine. Biden stated that the new support package of the US administration will include advanced air defense systems and that they will make the details official in a few days.
“I don’t know how the war will end, but it won’t end with Russia defeating Ukraine,” Biden said. He said support in Ukraine “will last as long as needed”.
‘Putin led to more NATO’
Commenting on the summit, NATO Secretary General and US President Joe Biden emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine led to “more NATO” on its borders.
Speaking at the close of the summit, US President Biden said, “Putin thought he could break the Transatlantic Alliance. He tried to weaken us. While he wanted to Finlandize NATO, he made Finland NATO.”
Stoltenberg also said, “(Putin) gets the opposite of what he wants. He wanted less NATO. With Finland and Sweden joining our alliance, he gets more NATO.”
Membership protocol on July 5
NATO Secretary General announced that the membership protocols of Sweden and Finland, which decided to join the alliance by giving up their neutrality policy after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will be signed next Tuesday.
With the overcoming of Turkey’s objections with the agreement reached at the last moment before the summit, the way for Sweden and Finland to join NATO was opened. NATO leaders decided yesterday to invite the two countries to join.
In order for Sweden and Finland to complete the membership process, 30 member states of the alliance must approve this decision in their parliaments.
China is among the threats for the first time
In the new Strategic Concept document adopted by NATO yesterday, Russia is mentioned as “the most important and direct threat”, and China is also counted among the threats for the first time.
Stoltenberg said in a statement at the close of the summit that Russia and China are working to achieve “political, economic and military gains” in the regions south of NATO, and that they resorted to methods such as “pressure and coercion” for this purpose. On the other hand, he stated that providing more support to NATO’s partners in the region was also discussed at the summit.
With the effect of concerns focused on China, countries from the Asia-Pacific region were also invited for the first time at the NATO Summit.
1 billion euro technology fund
At the NATO summit, 22 allies, including Turkey, decided to create a technology fund worth 1 billion Euros.
This fund is planned to be used to invest in innovative technologies in areas of priority for NATO such as artificial intelligence, data processing, biotechnology and space.
The Alliance also recorded its aim to increase the fight against climate change at this summit.