BRUSSELS (Dispatches) - NATO’s foreign ministers Wednesday agreed to step up work with Ukraine on a wide range of security issues, in a bid to show solidarity amid distractions from the war between Israel and Hamas.
In a statement, NATO allies vowed to “remain steadfast in their commitment to further step up political and practical support to Ukraine” and said they “will continue their support for as long as it takes,” after a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels.
“We are increasing our interoperability with NATO,” Kuleba said, ahead of the first foreign ministerial-level NATO-Ukraine Council meeting. “We are pretty much becoming a de facto NATO army, in terms of our technical capacity, management approaches and principles of running an army.”
According to the NATO statement, the alliance and Ukraine “are already working and taking decisions together, as equals, on a broad range of issues, including interoperability, energy security, innovation, cyber defence, and resilience. We will further develop these work strands.”
NATO countries will also work to “help rebuild the Ukrainian security and defence sector and to support Ukraine’s deterrence and defence in the long term.”
On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that NATO was originally created as “an instrument of confrontation,” and the bloc is actively seeking to contain Russia,
“NATO views Russia as an adversary. NATO is an alliance that was created as an instrument of confrontation,” Peskov said.
Peskov noted that NATO was originally established to contain Russia despite any statements that attempt to prove the opposite.
He said that the military bloc hasn’t abandoned its plans up to this day, and is sacrificing the Ukrainian people in its fight against Russia, adding that Moscow fully understands the current situation and is planning any further action accordingly.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg also has urged members of the security alliance to continue backing Ukraine in its battle against Russia amid opposition in the United States to a military aid package and resistance in Europe for a longer-term support plan for Kyiv.
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington and its allies remained steadfast in their backing for Ukraine against Russia, despite doubts over future assistance and stalemate on the ground.
“Some are questioning whether the United States and other NATO allies in truth continue to stand with Ukraine as we enter the second winter,” Blinken said.
“But the answer here today at NATO is clear and it’s unwavering. We must and we will continue to support Ukraine.”
We covered a lot of ground during the Foreign Ministers Meeting – from our expectations at the Washington Summit next year, to ways we can deepen our partnership with Ukraine, to how we can help support the Euro-Atlantic future of the Western Balkans.
Opposition from hardline Republicans in the U.S. Congress has stalled a new $60-billion package of support and thrown into question the future of Washington’s assistance.
The U.S. has provided more than $40bn in security aid to Ukraine since the war in February 2022 and pledged to back Kyiv for as long as necessary.
But some $61bn in proposed U.S. aid to Ukraine is being held up by the U.S. Congress, while another $50bn package from the European Union is struggling to pass because of opposition from Hungary.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday, any decision by Finland to allow a “concentration” of troops on its border with Russia would be viewed by Moscow as a threat, after Poland offered to send military advisers to help Helsinki police the frontier.
The head of the Polish National Security Bureau, Jacek Siewiera, said in a post on social media X late on Tuesday that Poland would send military advisers to its NATO ally Finland, in response to “an official request for allied support in the face of a hybrid attack on the Finnish border”.
“A team of military advisers will provide on-site knowledge on border security, also in operational terms,” he said.
Finland said it was unaware of the Polish offer. It has closed its entire 1,340 km (833 mile) border with Russia for two weeks in a bid to halt an unusually large flow of asylum seekers that Helsinki says amounts to a “hybrid attack” orchestrated by Moscow, a charge the Kremlin denies.
Advertisement • Scroll to continue.