Tag Archives: NATO

Bloomberg reports: The U.S. has shared intelligence including maps with European allies that shows a buildup of Russian troops and artillery to prepare for a rapid, large-scale push into Ukraine from multiple locations if President Vladimir Putin decided to invade. That intelligence has been conveyed to some NATO members over the past week to back up U.S. concerns about Putin’s …

The New York Times reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey stepped back on Monday from a threat to expel 10 Western ambassadors, averting a diplomatic storm that analysts and diplomats were warning would bring economic disaster upon Turkey and a lasting rupture in the NATO alliance. In what seemed to be a calculated move, the 10 embassies involved issued …

Axios reports: NATO has removed eight “undeclared Russian intelligence officers” and reduced the number of accredited members allowed to work for the Russian mission from 20 to 10, a NATO official confirmed to Axios. Why it matters: It’s the first time NATO has expelled Russians claiming to be diplomats since 2018, after Russian military intelligence officers were accused of poisoning …

Starting any minute: A White House official says the delay to US President Joe Biden’s news conference is attributed to the NATO plenary session with leaders running long, as well as all of the one-on-one meetings he conducted on the sidelines of the summit. “There are a lot of people who want to see him here,” a White House official …

The Associated Press reports: NATO leaders on Monday will expand the use of their all for one, one for all, collective defense clause to include attacks in space, the military organization’s top civilian official said. Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty states that attack on any one of the 30 allies will be considered an attack on them all. So …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Joe Biden told fellow NATO leaders on Monday the defense of Europe, Turkey and Canada was a “sacred obligation” for the United States, a marked shift from his predecessor Donald Trump’s threats to withdraw from the military alliance. Arriving in Brussels from the weekend’s G7 summit in England, Biden again sought to rally Western allies to …

Politico Europe reports: Anti-terror police in Italy say they have dismantled a far-right extremist group that was allegedly plotting to bomb a NATO base. Carabinieri seized photographs of Hitler, swastikas and a book listing Jewish surnames during coordinated raids on Monday on the homes of 12 alleged members of the Roman Aryan Order, a Nazi-inspired white supremacist group. One of …

Deutsche Welle reports: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko today accused NATO of deploying tanks and planes to Belarus’ western border, a claim the military alliance rejected. Speaking at a rally of his supporters in central Minsk, the 65-year-old leader dismissed opposition calls for a new election and urged Belarusians to defend their country. “I called you here not to defend me, …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump’s decision to pull nearly 12,000 US troops from Germany triggered an onslaught of disapproval from Republicans, Democrats and former senior military officials, who said the move will benefit Russia, degrade US national security and military readiness, cost US taxpayers billions and undermine US relations with Germany, NATO and Europe. Trump’s explanation to reporters about the …

Politico reports: NATO suspended its training mission in Iraq, the alliance said Saturday after a U.S. drone strike killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad. NATO has been advising the Iraqi defense forces on how to keep ISIS from regaining strength. However, those “training activities are temporarily suspended,” NATO spokesman Dylan White said in an emailed statement. “The safety of …

CNN’s indefatigable Daniel Dale reports: President Donald Trump held official meetings with two foreign leaders and the head of NATO at the alliance summit in London on Tuesday — and turned the public portion of each of the three sessions into his own highly dishonest impromptu press conference. Trump treated NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, French President Emmanuel Macron and …

The Guardian reports: Boris Johnson, Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron appear to be joking about Donald Trump at the opening of this week’s NATO summit in London along with other world leaders. In the video, Johnson asks Macron: ‘Is that why you were late’ before Trudeau interjects: ‘He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top.’ …

The Independent reports: Turkey will block NATO’s plan for the defence of Baltic countries unless the alliance recognises a Kurdish group as “terrorists”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned. A NATO meeting on Tuesday, marking the alliance’s 70th anniversary, was set to be a tense affair with Turkey at odds with other members over its purchase of Russian missiles and …

The New York Times reports: President Trump began a two-day summit meeting on Tuesday to mark the 70th anniversary of NATO — strained, in part, by his own brash handling of overseas allies — by stepping into an unlikely role as defender of an alliance he once called “obsolete.” Mr. Trump said President Emmanuel Macron of France had been “very …

CNN reports: The Trump administration has moved to substantially cut its contribution to NATO’s collective budget according to several US and NATO officials, a symbolic move that comes as many continue to question President Donald Trump’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance as he prepares to attend a summit to mark its 70th anniversary in London next week. Previously the US …

Axios reports: Vice President Mike Pence unleashed some of the most stinging criticisms of NATO allies Germany and Turkey yet from the Trump administration, contending that both countries’ recent actions threaten to undermine the alliance. Some NATO allies see President Trump as a threat to the alliance, with Trump himself having privately mused about withdrawing the U.S. from NATO on …

Defense News reports: The U.S. House passed legislation Tuesday evening that seeks to bar President Donald Trump from withdrawing from NATO amid renewed concerns over his commitment to the 29-nation military pact. In a bipartisan 357-22 vote, the Democrat-led lower chamber sent the Senate the NATO Support Act, which would prohibit the use of federal funds to withdraw from the …

The New York Times reports: There are few things that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia desires more than the weakening of NATO, the military alliance among the United States, Europe and Canada that has deterred Soviet and Russian aggression for 70 years. Last year, President Trump suggested a move tantamount to destroying NATO: the withdrawal of the United States. …

Reuters reports: Chancellor Angela Merkel, vowing to stay in office despite challenges at home and abroad, said she would work on Germany’s “under pressure” relationship with the United States but that Washington could no longer be relied on to deliver world order. In a wide-ranging news conference, Merkel described Germany’s relationship with the United States as “crucial”, even after U.S. …

NBC News reports: In the 12 short years since Montenegro regained its independence, the European country has joined NATO, boosted its defense spending, and according to official figures contributes more troops per capita to the war in Afghanistan than the United States. Yet this U.S. ally — smaller than Connecticut and about as populous as Baltimore — found itself in …