MADRID – President Joe Biden on Wednesday pledged to bolster the US military presence in Eastern Europe, including establishing a permanent presence in Poland, as he met other NATO leaders on Wednesday for a summit aimed at demonstrating resolve in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. .
“The moment Putin shatters peace in Europe and attacks the very principles of the rules-based order, the United States and our allies, we will rise. We will rise,” Biden said at the news conference. NATO summit in Madrid.
Biden said the United States would also rotate its deployments in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
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The US is also sending two additional squadrons of F-35s to the UK, with two more destroyers in Spain and will improve defense capabilities in Germany and Italy.
By working with military allies, Biden said the United States will help ensure that NATO countries are “prepared to confront threats from all directions and in all areas.”
This week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the organization would put 300,000 troops on high alert, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There are currently more than 40,000 soldiers under NATO command.
The National Security Council’s coordinator for Strategic Communications, John Kirby, said the United States has deployed or expanded more than 20,000 additional troops to Europe since Putin’s war against Ukraine began in February.
This brings the number of US service members on the continent to more than 100,000, Kirby said.
Last
- NATO expansion: NATO leaders have formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the alliance. The call comes just hours after Turkey dropped its objections to the membership of the northern countries. Final approval may still be months later because the legislative bodies of all 30 NATO countries must vote to accept their membership.
- Where is Biden? He participates in closed sessions with heads of state and government of other NATO countries and bilateral meetings with US allies.
- what do you want to watch: Biden’s meeting with the Turkish president. The leaders spoke by phone on Monday before a live conversation at the NATO summit.
- What will Biden offer? Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, has suggested that the United States might sell Turkey upgraded F-16 fighters.
- China Challenge: Biden also held a joint meeting with Japan’s Fumio Kishida and South Korea’s Yoon Seok-yeol at the summit site. Neither country is a NATO country, yet it is participating in the summit for the first time.
- On the list: The visiting leaders will have dinner with Spanish President Pedro Sanchez.
What will happen
NATO countries are building their Strategic Concept, a document that will define the issues the alliance will focus on over the next decade.
Wednesday was the first full day of the summit. The leaders will meet again on Thursday.
what are they saying
- Arriving at the NATO rally site, Biden said it would be a “history-making summit”, where leaders would “reaffirm our alliance’s unity and determination to defend every inch of NATO territory.”
- The US President said that the obligation of Article 5 of the alliance to protect NATO countries if they are attacked is a “holy order”.
- “We mean when we say that an attack on one is an attack on all,” Biden said.
- Biden emphasized that Finland and Sweden’s decision to move away from neutrality to join NATO would make the alliance stronger and safer.
- Spanish President Pedro Sanchez told leaders in their first group session that the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO was a “milestone” that would make the alliance even stronger.
- “The world is looking at us. Let’s show them our unity and cohesion,” he said.
- The Defense Department said the United States would “permanently provide” the headquarters of the Fifth Corps and Field Support Battalion in Poland.
- Wallander of the Department of Defense called it an “important decision” and an acknowledgment that the United States needs “a long-term capability to maintain our presence, our training, our activities, and our support for the nations of the East Side.”
Other Takeaway
The decision of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea to attend the summit for the first time is significant. It illustrates NATO countries’ growing concerns about China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific.
Biden sought to neutralize China in Russia’s war against Ukraine. But will the Indo-Pacific powers align themselves more closely with the West and NATO’s strategic concept of naming China as a region of concern a change in Xi Jinping’s calculus?
The US president stressed that the way the West deals with Russia’s aggression in Ukraine will affect how Xi deals with Taiwan. On a trip to Asia last month, Biden said China was “flaunting danger” and recommitted the United States to defend Taiwan, a democratically governed part of China, if Xi tried to take control by force.
Want to know more? This is what you missed
Biden in Europe to meet allies at the NATO summit. It aims to keep the military alliance united behind Ukraine and to resist a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Beginning of the NATO Summit:Biden and his NATO allies met in Spain to craft strategies for dealing with Russia and China over the next decade
Punching back in Putin:A kick in the guts: Finland and Sweden’s drive to join NATO was a defeat for Putin and a victory for the West
US considers selling fighter jets to Turkey
The United States on Wednesday signaled its support for the sale of new F-16 fighter jets to Turkey ahead of a meeting in Madrid between Biden and the Turkish president.
“The United States supports Turkey’s modernization of its fighter fleet because this is a contribution to NATO security and thus American security,” Wallander said.
Turkey was blocking Sweden and Finland from joining NATO but removed its opposition on the first day of the summit – hours after Biden spoke with Erdogan on the phone.
An official told reporters traveling with Biden in Madrid that the United States had not offered Turkey anything to drop its objections. The president did not respond to a question later in the day about a possible sale of F-16s.
In an interview with the NATO summit, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin noted that there were “issues between Sweden, Finland and Turkey” that were “apparently” resolved.
“But it required other members like the United States to be on the table to talk about other issues on Turkey’s mind to finally get the deal done,” Durbin said.
Durbin said that if a deal was struck because the United States agreed to sell fighter jets to Turkey, he would support the sale.
“I think the accession of Finland and Sweden changes the calculus of NATO protection. Putin could not have imagined that NATO would be stronger
He said of the potential sale of the fighter jets: “If that’s what it takes to close the deal, I certainly support it. I think Finland and Sweden’s accession changes NATO’s protection calculus, and Putin could not have imagined that NATO would be stronger after his invasion.”
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