NATO leaders gather for 75th anniversary summit. Here’s What You Should Know | Russia-Ukraine war news

US President Joe Biden will host NATO leaders in Washington, DC this week as the military alliance marks 75 years since its formation, amid security threats from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and growing assertiveness of China in Asia-Pacific.

The summit, which will take place from Tuesday to Thursday, is expected to focus mainly on reassuring Ukraine of the alliance’s unwavering support after Russia attacked Ukrainian cities with missiles on Monday, hitting a children’s hospital in Kiev. At least 31 people were killed in the Russian attacks.

It will be the first international appearance for new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose Labor Party won last week’s general election in a landslide. President Emmanuel Macron of France, who faces a political dilemma after a left-wing bloc emerged as the biggest player in the National Assembly following Sunday’s elections, will also be present.

NATO was formed during the Cold War in 1949 to combat threats posed by the Soviet Union. Article 5 of its founding treaty commits members to collective military defense, whereby an attack on one member is considered an attack on all, and effectively keeps its enemies at bay. Since then, the alliance has grown from 12 to 32 members, with its newest member, Sweden, joining in March.

Here’s what we know about who will attend the summit and what will be high on the agenda:

Who will be there?

Biden will host outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and leaders of other NATO countries, which will include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and, for the first time , Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

The leaders of NATO partner countries will also be present. Partner nations are prevented from joining the alliance due to Article 10 of their treaty, which limits new members to Europe. Partner country leaders expected at the summit include:

• Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy
• Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan
• Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
• President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea
• New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon
• European Union leaders, including Charles Michel, head of the European Council, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, as well as other senior officials from NATO countries and their partners will also be present.

What’s on the agenda?

Support for Ukraine: The biggest topic on the agenda is support for Ukraine. At a White House press conference on Monday, Biden’s security adviser Mike Carpenter told reporters that NATO allies are expected to announce new support for Ukraine, including renewed funding of 40 billion euros. ($43.2 billion) over the next year, in addition to the millions pledged bilaterally by NATO countries. The allies are also expected to announce the launch of a military command station in Germany, which is expected to reinforce Ukrainian forces with training and equipment.

The question of Ukraine’s membership in NATO will be a hot topic. Ukraine’s ambitions to join have been hampered by demands for internal reforms and the alliance’s fears of escalating tensions with Russia. Although Ukraine’s membership is still far from getting the green light, NATO allies have increased support for the war-torn country in recent months.

NATO leaders, including Biden, have promised in the past not to drag the alliance into the Russia-Ukraine conflict and have restricted Ukraine from using weapons supplied by its allies against targets inside Russia. But in May, Biden for the first time allowed Kiev to use U.S.-supplied weapons to attack targets inside Russia, near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which is 40 km (25 miles) from the Russian border. At the summit, the alliance will “recognize Ukraine’s vital ongoing reform efforts and demonstrate allied support for Ukraine on its path to NATO membership,” Carpenter said.

Defense spending: The USA is the financial weight of NATO, and both they and NATO itself have long tried to increase the military spending of other member countries. Progress made on the 2014 target of each country spending at least 2 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense by 2024 is expected to be reviewed. US officials said 23 members are now reaching that goal, up from nine in 2021, after the commitment was reaffirmed at last year’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

However, eyes will be on countries that failed to meet the commitment, especially Canada, a richer country among the members that failed to meet the target. In May, 23 US senators from the Democratic and Republican parties wrote a letter to Trudeau, expressing their “disappointment” after the country revealed that its defense spending would reach just 1.7% of its GDP by 2029. Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair responded to the letter by saying, “Canada is on a very strong upward trajectory in defense spending” and “we know we have work to do.” Spain, Italy and Portugal are also among those that spend the least.

China: NATO will also seek to reassure its Asia-Pacific partners – Australia, Japan and South Korea – of the alliance’s continued support against an increasingly aggressive China. Beijing has been accused of increasing its military presence in the disputed South China Sea, a key global trade route, almost all of which is claimed by China. Several other governments in the region, including the Philippines and Taiwan, also claim territory and dispute China’s growing assertiveness.

NATO members depend on trade that crosses the region and have an interest in stabilizing the route as well as protecting Taiwan, a key ally of Washington that China also claims. Recent clashes with Manila have also caused alarm. In June, Chinese motorboats rammed and then boarded Philippine navy inflatable boats trying to transfer food to a Philippine outpost on Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef claimed by both countries. This episode caused injuries to several soldiers and was the most intense in which the two countries had been involved in years.

The Philippines signed a defense pact with Japan on Monday that will allow it to deploy troops into each other’s territory. Washington has also strengthened its military ties with Manila.

China’s deepening friendship with Russia is also a cause for concern for the alliance, especially as Beijing has been accused of providing dual-use material to the Russian military that U.S. officials say allowed Moscow to attack Ukraine and poses a threat. to European security.

NATO officials said in 2023 that Russia imported 90% of its microelectronics used to make missiles, tanks and aircraft from China. Meanwhile, Beijing has repeatedly denied these allegations. NATO allies at the 2023 Vilnius summit declared that China’s “stated ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values.”

What’s at stake for Biden?

It will not be an official topic, but US domestic politics will likely affect the climate of the summit. Biden’s campaign for re-election in November faces a huge crisis, and polls show that President Donald Trump, a continuous critic of NATO while in the White House, is widening his lead over the incumbent. Biden’s poor performance in a presidential debate with Trump in late June raised questions about his mental fitness and prompted calls for him to make way for another candidate.

Members of Biden’s Democratic Party are suggesting several names, including Vice President Kamala Harris and several state governors, as possible replacements.

NATO allies, meanwhile, are considering the potential ramifications of a hostile Trump presidency. Trump has threatened to withdraw the US, NATO’s founding member and its biggest funder, from the organization and is vehemently against providing more aid to Ukraine. In an interview in March, Trump said he would not abandon NATO, but reiterated that European partners needed to drastically increase their military spending.

Even if the US does not end up abandoning the alliance, experts say Trump will likely seriously downgrade the US role in the organization.

Can the alliance hide the disunity among its members?

Although the NATO summit will attempt to demonstrate strength and unity in the face of the growing security threat from Russia and China, internal divergences between its member states will be difficult to mask.

Turkey and Hungary were the holdout members who delayed Finland and Sweden’s bids to join NATO. The two are also among the few NATO members who remain friends with Russia.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ties to Moscow are especially likely to generate tensions. Orbán, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Council, has repeatedly blocked EU aid to Ukraine and continued to negotiate with Russia.

Since assuming the EU presidency, Orban has tried to present himself as a peacemaker. Last week, he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, a meeting that was the target of strong criticism from EU leaders and Kiev. Orban called the trip a “peace mission” that followed a visit to Ukraine. A White House official said Washington did not consider the visit “useful” or “constructive.”

Orban also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. He described China as a stabilizing force amid global turmoil and praised its “constructive and important” peace initiatives.

These include a six-point peace plan Beijing issued with Brazil in May to end the war. Russia agreed to the plan, but Ukraine said it did not meet its conditions, including the withdrawal of Russian troops from the country.