NATO summit lost in US poll drama

The NATO summit to mark 75 years of the trans-Atlantic military alliance in Washington last week was lost in the drama of American presidential election. The focus of the American media was on whether American President Joe Biden can hold himself in a press conference after his disastrous performance in the first round of television debate with his Republican rival, Donald Trump. And true to form, Biden referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as President Putin, and he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as Vice President Trump.

And it was inevitable that there was a flood of murmurs whether Biden should step away from the race in November. Biden is not willing to let go. So what happened to the NATO summit? And what is the stance of NATO on Ukraine? These two questions got lost in the talk about Biden.

The Washington Summit Declaration of July 10 is a lengthy reiteration of the Western alliance’s resolve to stay together even as it welcomed its two new members, Finland and Sweden. It expressed that most of the member-states have kept to their promise of contributing 2 per cent of the national GDP for defence spending.

The summit declaration has identified Russia as a threat to European security, and it also declared that Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) have been cooperating with Russia and thus contributing to the insecurity of NATO’s Europe.

China has been mentioned as the chief enabler of Russia’s military capacity in the Ukraine war. And they have made it clear that the safety and territorial integrity of Ukraine were essential to the safety and integrity of Europe.

In a separate section dealing with Ukraine, the declaration has said that it has set up NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) “to coordinate the provision of military equipment and training for Ukraine by Alliance and partners. That is, it would enlist of the support of countries, which are not part of NATO. There is a curious clarification of the status of NSATU in the declaration.

It says, “NSATU, which will operate in Allied states, will support Ukraine’s self-defence in line with the UN Charter. NSATU will not, under international law, make NATO a party to the conflict.” That is, though members of the NATO will be helping Ukraine in terms of military support through men and equipment, it does not mean that NATO is at war with Russia.

It is understandable that NATO would not want to entangle itself in the war in Ukraine because that would literally mean that Europe and North America are at war with Russia. At the same time, the NATO declaration sees the possibility of Ukraine as a member of NATO in the future. It says, “It will support the transformation of Ukraine’s defence and security forces, enabling its further integration with NATO.”

This could also be interpreted as Ukraine remaining a partner country of NATO without being a member of NATO. This would be crucial in future peace negotiations because one of the basic objections of Russia was to Ukraine joining the NATO.

There is also a lengthy pledge of NATO to protect and defend, and help Ukraine in defending its sovereign status and territorial integrity. The serious message from NATO is that it is committed to the defence of Ukraine, and it was not dependent on who wins the US presidential election, and whether American politicians will continue to support Ukraine. There is the likelihood that in case Republican Trump wins the election, the American support for Ukraine would weaken. The NATO sees the issue of Ukraine as one connected with European Union’s existential survival.