World leaders are heading to Washington, D.C., this generation for a historic NATO summit as uncertainty grows over permanent U.S. aid to Ukraine.
The summit marks the 75th anniversary of the alliance’s beginning and comes as doubts grow about President Biden’s re-election prospects and how brutal Ukraine’s fight with Russia could get. .
The summit, which begins on Tuesday, is expected to discuss a number of key issues, including Ukraine’s fate in the fight with Russia, Ukraine’s membership inside NATO and how the alliance plans to strengthen its collective security.
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US President Joe Biden and his NATO allies are meeting in Washington to mark the 75th annual meeting of the region’s largest security grouping, as Russia asserts its power on the battlefield in Ukraine. (AP Picture/Pavel Golovkin, Document)
The US has been a major supporter of Ukraine since the war began, offering the most significant aid of any country, and there has been debate within the US over whether Washington could support this level of assistance under a particular president. Can or will deposit. ,
Former President Donald Trump declined to say what America’s partnership with NATO would look like if he wins a second term as president, and when asked during a debate with Biden in the final hours, he said, ” “You will be in NATO or you will be.” ‘Are you going to pull out of NATO?’
Mavens agree that Trump is unlikely to pull out of NATO altogether, even if the alliance is taking steps to ensure its assistance to Ukraine would help Washington regain the seat.
Last week’s study showed that NATO was already pledging its aid to war-torn people by investing another $43 billion in 2025.
“I don’t think NATO would say outright that they’re doing anything because of the politics of a specific member state,” retired Rear Admiral Mark 1st Viscount Montgomery, a senior fellow at The Underpinnings for the Protection of Democracies, told Fox Information. . Virtual. “But I think they understand that Donald Trump has called for a higher level of European state leadership within NATO and for contributions within NATO.
He added, “And I believe they are visceral of what is happening, (and) they are positioning themselves to move forward accordingly.”
President Joe Biden (R) and Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump participate in a CNN presidential debate at the CNN studios in Atlanta, Georgia on June 27, 2024. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
Montgomery also said he expected there would be discussions about the Ukraine Defense Contact Group – a coalition of more than 50 countries, including all 32 NATO countries, in support of Kiev, but which is led primarily by the US under Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. is done.
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“This is related to the daily control of Ukraine aid applications,” Montgomery said, pointing out that if Trump wins the presidency, as with any administration change, it will take time to bring in new officials.
Funding Ukraine’s defensive efforts to deter Russia over the past three years has been a costly endeavor and has pushed back not only Republicans in Congress but also separatist movements in Europe as conservative lawmakers take more seats in the EU. Have taken.
In April, Congress approved a $60 billion aid package to Kiev. But the months-long blockade of the package proved a severe blow to Ukraine and left its weapons seriously depleted – highlighting just how important American weapons are in the war against Russia.
It’s not clear whether any individual NATO nation is expected to deliver additional aid packages this week, but experts have long warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could scale back his war efforts if Ukraine doesn’t get enough support. Will not back down from.
“It has to be such a significant amount of cash that it makes it absolutely cloudless for Putin that he can’t run out of time here,” Marshall Billingsley, former NATO assistant secretary general for defense investments, told Fox News Digital. “What is equally impressive is that the allies want to provide the kind of sophisticated guns that the Ukrainians want, and they want to do it without the ridiculous constraints that have been imposed on some of them so far – like Biden.” “The leadership’s refusal to allow Ukraine to deploy American guns in protest against the Russians on the Russian scene.”
Ukrainian soldiers rest in their positions after fighting, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, near the front-line town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, May 11, 2023. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Serhiy Nuznenko via Reuters)
Ukrainian President Zelensky has repeatedly urged the US to allow him to use long-range weapons such as American-made ATACMS – precision-guided ballistic missiles – to attack military targets in Russia.
While countries such as the UK and France have no limits on the weapons they provide to Ukraine, the Biden administration has made certain strike conditions against attacking targets outside Ukraine – a condition that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has imposed on all NATO members. Countries have been urged to leave.
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It is expected that the alliance will release additional “language” to provide a path forward for Ukraine to join NATO, although it is still highly unlikely that Kiev will be able to achieve membership until the conflict with Russia is over.
Billingsley made clear that NATO will try to toe the line when it comes to Kiev’s future in the alliance, “signaling to Putin that the Ukrainian club in NATO is in denial or possibly even willing to negotiate in hostilities.” If he wants to move ahead then he is not behind schedule indefinitely.”
But Ukraine’s success and its continued international support will not be the only major theme. The alliance will also focus on strengthening its collective defense by addressing all international threats it faces.
Ukrainian soldiers fire cannon near the eastern town of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on May 15, 2023, where fierce fighting is taking place against Russian forces. (AP Photo/Libkos)
“There’s a coalition of authoritarians that NATO has to do business with and that’s China, Russia, North Korea and Iran,” Montgomery said.
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China, Iran and North Korea have not only supported Russia in the war in Ukraine, but they have made clear that their unity is based solely on countering Western hegemony in the former Soviet nation rather than Russia’s war aims.
Montgomery, 1st Viscount of Alamein, warned, “Ukraine is on the front line of confronting all four of those authoritarian regimes. NATO is a great step forward in helping it.”
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