Contents tagged with NATO

  • General Ben Hodges: to resist new aggression Ukraine must show that it is ready for it

    In an interview to Evropeyskaya Pravda during the Lviv Security Forum, United States Army Commander in Europe, Ben Hodges believes that the only way to prevent a new Russian invasion of Ukraine is to demonstrate preparedness to such a scenario, so that everyone realizes that Ukraine is capable of resisting.

    "I don't think we can talk about the high probability of such a scenario," he said, responding to a question of whether the danger of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine remains to …

  • Ben Hodges: Reforms and transparency in spending are the key requirements for Ukraine to be able to join NATO

    Two key principles Ukraine should adhere to if it wants to join NATO are transparency in the use of budget means and reforms, as stated by the United States Army Commander in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, as reported by Ukrainian 24 TV.

    He also noted that Ukraine has great potential for producing its own weapons.

    "Firstly, the decision to provide lethal weapons is being made at the highest level.  We are now providing recommendations on this issue. Let’s see how the situation …

  • NATO: 60% of Russian-speaking Twitter users who write about the Alliance in the Baltic States are bots

    NATO's Strategic Communications Center of Excellence reports that 60% of Russian-speaking Twitter users are bots, according to the Center, which was founded in Riga, Latvia, The Voice of America reports.

    "Russian-speaking bots create about 70% of all Russian NATO reports in the Baltic States and Poland. In general, 60% of active Russian-speaking accounts are automated. In comparison, 39% of account tweeting in English are bots,” the report notes.

    The research notes that its conclusions are …

  • Budapest: Hungary will not support Ukraine’s course to NATO and the EU

    Budapest cannot support Kyiv’s Euro-Atlantic efforts until they abolish the "discriminatory" Ukrainian law "On Education," as stated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, at the Eastern Partnership summit on the 24th of November in Brussels, Radio Liberty reports. 

    "We cannot do this and support Euro-Atlantic efforts (of Ukraine), because Kyiv has neglected the rights of ethnic minorities and has flagrantly violated the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, which came …

  • Estonia calls on NATO to strengthen its presence in Baltics

    The President of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid stated that the upcoming NATO summit should address the issue of strengthening the presence of the Alliance troops in the Baltic region, the President’s press service reports.

    At a meeting with the ambassadors of Great Britain, France and Denmark to NATO, who arrived in Estonia, the President stated that at the Alliance summit in 2018 "we must find a solution of how, should the need arise, to organize deployment of additional forces in the Baltic Sea …

  • NATO Secretary General: We are ready to respond to blow from the East

    RIA Novosti reports that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has commented on media reports expressing doubts about the Alliance's readiness to respond to a strike from the East.

    "[The] NATO [Alliance] is ready to defend and protect all allies against any threat; but since the fact [is] that the security environment is changing, NATO is changing…so we are stepping up; we are…increasing the combat readiness of our forces, we are deploying, for the first time in our history, forces in the …

  • Stoltenberg: NATO doors are open to Ukraine

    NATO’s doors are open to Ukraine, but the decision to allow Ukraine to join will be made by all 29 members of the alliance, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said during the Halifax International Security Forum, Interfax Ukraine reports.

    “The doors of NATO are open, and the best evidence of this is the fact that the number of NATO members has nearly doubled since the end of the Cold War. Secondly, we also gained a new member this year. Montenegro joined us in spring, bringing NATO’s …

  • Turkey completes the purchase of Russian S-400 anti-air missile systems

    Turkey has completed the procedure of purchasing S-400 anti-air missile systems from Russia, Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli announced, as reported by Anadolu.

    “The S-400 systems have been purchased. All that’s left to deal with are a few minor details,” the Minister noted.

    According to him, Turkey does not intend to stop there, but rather aims to develop its domestic capabilities.

    “Anti-air defense systems need to be developed in Turkey itself, by domestic enterprises,” he …

  • Prystaiko: Hungary is using NATO against Ukraine

    Hungary’s hysteria over Ukraine’s Law on Education requiring providing instruction in the state language in Ukrainian educational system is not subsiding, as stated by the head of Ukraine’s mission to NATO, Vadym Prystaiko, at a meeting with journalists in Brussels, LB.ua reports.

    "Hungary continues to make bravura statements while NATO is trying to explain that these are just work processes, nothing is canceled or blocked," he said, referring to Hungary's decision to veto the meeting of the …

  • Ukrainian Vice-Prime-Minister: Hungary blocking development of relations between Kyiv and NATO

    Budapest is blocking the effective development of Ukraine's relations with the North Atlantic alliance due to their displeasure with the paragraph on language in the Ukrainian law on education.

    According to the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Ukraine will try to solve this problem with the support of other NATO members, since Budapest "blocks the effective development" of things planned between Ukraine and the Alliance.

    "Ukraine is concerned with …