Contents tagged with NATO

  • Stoltenberg invites Poroshenko to NATO North Atlantic Council meeting

    NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg invited Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to attend a meeting of the North Atlantic Council of NATO that includes heads of state and government, as well as a high-level meeting of participants and partners of the Assistance Mission peacekeeping effort in Afghanistan.

    This was reported by the president’s press service.

    Stoltenberg and Poroshenko spoke by telephone on Tuesday and discussed preparations for Ukraine in connection with the NATO summit in …

  • Kyiv: The situation in Crimea and Donbas will not prevent Ukraine from joining NATO

    The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea by Russia will not prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, as stated by the Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security Ivan Vinnik (part of Petro Poroshenko Bloc “Solidarity”).

    “This is a myth, created by Russian propaganda, that countries that are in involved in territorial claims cannot become subjects of NATO. I would like to remind you that Ukraine is not involved in a territorial conflict, we have the armed …

  • NATO expects Ukrainian national security law to delimit functions of law enforcement agencies

    NATO Representative to Ukraine Alexander Vinnikov anticipates that the Verkhovna Rada will pass a law on national security which will clearly delimit the functions of the law enforcement agencies.

    The head of NATO Representation to Ukraine made a statement to this effect at a conference in Kyiv.

    “From our perspective, a law on national security is critical, the basis and foundation for delimiting the functions of Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies. This law will provide synergy between all …

  • Estonia: over the past week NATO Air Forces escorted Russian warplanes 12 times over the Baltic Sea

    Estonia's Ministry of Defense reported that over the last week, NATO fighters had scrambled eight times to identify and escort Russian military aircraft.

    According to the BNS agency, this time, a total of 12 aircraft of the Russian Federation were intercepted in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.

    The latest incident was recorded on June 9, when the NATO air police accompanied Russian planes on three different occasions: an Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft, an An-26 freighter and a Su-24 …

  • Turkish Defense Ministry: NATO concerned about Russian S-400 radars

    Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli has attended talks with US Defense Secretary James Mattis in Brussels, during which he discussed the disagreement surrounding the purchase of S-400 systems  from Russia.

    According to the minister, Turkey’s deal with Russia on the S-400 anti-air missile systems does not constitute a threat to NATO, but the Alliance really does have causes for concern.

    Canikli explained that the S-400s have extremely powerful radars, which could transmit information …

  • Poland calls for increased military cooperation with Ukraine

    According to a statement by Poland’s Ministry of Defense Mariusz Błaszczak, Poland supports increasing military cooperation with Ukraine.

    “It’s terrible when an independent country is subjected to the aggression of a neighboring state—Russia. And we see a real portrait of the aggressor, not a picture provided by the Russian media. We will continue strengthening our cooperation and will meet as often as possible to resolve all pressing issues” stated Blaszczak at a press conference after the …

  • NATO Secretary General insists on maintaining sanctions against Russia

    NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated at a press-conference in Brussels on Thursday that the Alliance does not want the isolation of Russia and wishes for relations with the country to become better; however, NATO does support the sanctions policy currently levied against the Russian Federation.

    “The Alliance supports what we call a double approach,” Interfax-Ukraine cites Stoltenberg saying. “Namely: deterrence and defense, but also dialogue. Since Russia is our neighbor, and it will …

  • NATO plans to fast-track military readiness

    High readiness is an essential task for NATO in a modern, more unpredictable world, stated NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, June 6 while commenting on a NATO Defense Ministers meeting scheduled for June 7 to 8. 

    Speaking about boosting combat readiness, Stoltenberg expressed the hope that the participants could agree on a new concept called "the Four Thirties." It stipulates that by 2020, 30 mechanized battalions, 30 air squadrons, and 30 …

  • NATO: Russia violates military balance in the Black Sea region

    Russia’s actions in the Black Sea region have violated the zone’s military balance, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs James Appathurai stated, the Agerpres agency reports.

    Appathurai, who is NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, made this statement while speaking on Tuesday at a forum devoted to security in the Atlantic and Black Sea.

    Following the annexation of the Crimea by Russia, “a lot of military equipment was …

  • Former Estonian President: Russia may lose several cities if it attacks NATO

    For 27 years, Russia has been conducting an information campaign against Estonia, and now it is trying to use the same methods to discredit Ukraine too, stated former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

    Ilves believes that despite its campaign to discredit Estonia, Russia does not threaten the country in a military sense, because it knows it could take significant losses. In this context, the former president pointed out that Estonia is a NATO member, and according to one of the Alliance’ …