Contents tagged with NATO

  • Russia’s representative to NATO: Russia concerned about increase in U.S. military budget

    Russia is concerned about the increase in military spending by Donald Trump’s administration within NATO by 40% in 2018, Russia's permanent representative to the alliance Alexander Grushko said on the television station Rossiya 24.

    “What worries us right now is that the Trump administration asked for $4.8 billion for next year for the so-called Allied Reassurance Initiative. This year, the funding amounted to $3.7 billion. This means a 40 percent increase,” he said.

    According to Grushko, this …

  • Poland: NATO forces will remain on the eastern flank at least until 2022

    The North Atlantic Alliance will maintain its presence on the eastern flank at least until 2022, said Polish President Andrzej Duda at the briefing at the end of the NATO summit.

    “Currently we’re talking about 2022,” he pointed out in response to the relevant question. “NATO’s activity there is needed. The situation in the area of security is changing,” he stressed.

    According to Duda, nobody is calling into question the principle of collective defense. “There was no vote to stop supporting …

  • Head of Ukrainian Mission to NATO: the matter of Ukraine will have primary status at Alliance meeting

    The topics of Ukraine and Russian aggression will be “everywhere” at a special meeting of the head of states and governments of NATO member-states in Brussels, although the official program of the “mini-summit” does not contain announcements about separate consultations on this topic, said Yehor Bozhok, acting head of the Ukrainian Mission to NATO in Brussels.

    “Ukraine will be everywhere at this event: everything which will be spoken about there will be in connection with the fact that in 2014 …

  • Georgian president asks Lithuania for support at NATO summit

    Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili asked Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė for support in bringing up matters important to Tbilisi at the NATO summit which will take place this week in Brussels, Delfi reported.The two national leaders discussed the matter over the telephone.

    “The conversation took place ahead of the NATO summit which will take place in Brussels on May 25. President G. Margvelashvili asked the Lithuanian president for support in bringing up matters important to …

  • Warsaw: NATO to discuss expansion of alliance at the next summit

    Pawel Soloch, Head of the National Security Bureau of Poland, told Rzeczpospolita news outlet in an interview that the expansion of NATO will be one of the issues for discussion at the meeting of the NATO member-state heads in Brussels on May 25.

    According to him, this agenda was inspired by threats “from the east” and Russia’s “aggressive politics”.

    “We must be united in the matters which concern us – regarding Russia’s aggressive politics, also regarding the threat from the east, and we …

  • President of Estonia emphasized the importance of maintaining sanctions on Russia

    Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid accentuated the importance of maintaining sanctions against Russia, in an exclusive interview with the DW program ‘Nemtsova Interview.’

    "We can say that the whole security situation in Europe is unpredictable and changeable. There is Russia, which has already shown that it is ready to use force. I am speaking of the occupation of the Crimean peninsula. Besides, we know that Russia does not fulfill its international obligations which it had assumed. Let's …

  • US Vice Admiral asserts that ensuring security in the Black Sea is NATO’s most important task

    US 6th Fleet and Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO Commander Vice Admiral Christopher Grady discussed cooperation in providing maritime security in the region with the commander of the Bulgarian naval forces, Rear Admiral Mitko Petev in Varna.

    At the press conference, they expressed high appreciation for the joint work, stressing that ensuring security in the Black Sea region is one of the most important tasks to be solved jointly.

    "It is very important for us to maintain good …

  • Military forces from 25 countries will participate in NATO exercise in Lithuania

    At the end of May, Lithuania will host NATO exercises which will be attended by several international forces. Military personnel from 25 alliance countries will participate, as reported by Delphi.

    The “Steadfast Cobalt” annual exercise will be held from May 21 to June 2. It will be attended by close to a thousand soldiers. During the exercise, soldiers will train in information exchange skills and maintaining communication between combat units.

    This is the second time that Lithuania is …

  • Russian fighter jet approched US reconnaissance aircraft at distance of 6 meters over the Black Sea

    A Russian fighter flew six meters from an American reconnaissance aircraft in the skies above the Black Sea, as reported by NBC News citing a representative of the U.S. Naval Forces Europe, Pamela Kunze.

    The incident occurred on May 9th. The Russian Su-27 approached the American P-8A Poseidon when it was performing routine operations in international airspace, NBC notes. According to Kunze, the commander of the American aircraft considered the actions of the Russian fighter safe and …

  • Six NATO warships arrived in Estonia

    On Friday, six NATO warships entered the port of Tallinn, reported ERR.ee news website with reference to Estonian Defense Force.

    The warships of the North Atlantic Alliance made a planned entry into the port of Tallinn to participate in various defense-related activities, to replenish the ships supplies stocks and to rest.

    The ships are part of two permanent NATO naval units. The first mine clearing group consists of four ships -Estonian minesweeper EML Wambola, Norwegian HNoMS Hinnoey, …