NATO officials are set to meet defence ministers of Ukraine, Sweden, and Finland on Wednesday at the Brussels headquarters to discuss the ongoing Russian attack on Ukraine.
The reunion comes ahead of an extraordinary crisis meeting with US president Joe Biden in Brussels on Thursday next week.
“The world condemns this senseless war,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. He confirmed that the military alliance and its allies stand united in support for Ukraine.
The leaders will discuss NATO's military stance towards Russia, Stoltenberg confirmed at a press conference on Tuesday. "The Russian invasion of Ukraine and its military integration with Belarus are creating a new security reality on the European continent,” he said.
Strengthened presence in the East
The alliance is set to bolster its defence forces in Eastern Europe. 300 Belgian soldiers were deployed in Romania last week, Le Soir reported, as Romania shares a 600km land border with Ukraine. The Belgian division joins US, German and French troops.
Further to this, NATO is strengthening its position in the Baltics, Poland and Slovakia. “There are now hundreds of thousands of forces on heightened alert across the Alliance – 100,000 US troops in Europe and around 40,000 troops under direct NATO command, mostly in the eastern part of the Alliance” Stoltenberg said. These forces are supported "by substantial air and naval power, as well as air defences".
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In light of Europe's new security uncertainty, Stoltenberg encouraged all NATO members to increase defence spending to at least 2% of GDP. NATO military commanders are developing further measures to be unveiled at the alliance's summit in Madrid in June.
