NATO wants to coordinate supplies of equipment to Ukraine and watch over training of Ukrainian soldiers. The decision to do so will be made at the summit of the Alliance in Washington. This is what the defence ministers of the associate States who met in Brussels agreed. In the talks Poland was represented by Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
A two-day gathering of NATO Defence Ministers was held in Brussels. Its goal was to prepare a common ally position on the summit to be held in Washington next month. The key issues discussed by the participants were those related to the assistance to Ukraine as well as to the deterrence and defence of the Alliance itself. "In both areas, we have made considerable progress," said Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO.
He explained that Alliance wants to increase its commitment to support Ukraine. This includes supervising training of Ukrainian armed forces in training centres in allied countries, planning and coordinating the supply of equipment and its service. The intent of these tasks is to enable NATO command located in the U.S. military base in Wiesbaden, Germany, and logistics nodes on the east flank of the Alliance, in which 700 people from allied and partner countries will interact. They will be headed by the commander-in-chief of allied forces in Europe. "These efforts are not meant to make NATO a organization to the conflict, but to increase our support for Ukraine," said Stoltenberg.
The Head of the Alliance besides addressed the question of sabotage, which any of the NATO associate States face. The allies so agreed, inter alia, to strengthen intelligence cooperation or to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure. “Russian run will not deter us from supporting Ukraine. We will proceed to defend our territories and society from hostile actions," stressed NATO Secretary-General.
Speaking of deterrence and defence of the Alliance, Stoltenberg reported that presently there are 500,000 soldiers in readiness to act on his behalf. The number of NATO militant groups on the east flank has besides increased. However, further investment is inactive needed, for example in the modernisation of troops or innovation. “I anticipate that during the July summit, allies will approve a fresh commitment for the defence manufacture to send a request signal to arms companies for their products,” he said. We're ready to meet in Washington. This will be a very crucial summit.
At the gathering in Brussels, Poland was represented by Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. He informed that during the gathering of 13 states a letter of intent concerning the accession to the coalition of ‘armoured capabilities’ had been signed. The initiative, led by Poland, Germany and Italy, aims to support Ukraine both in the area of ongoing fighting and in building its interoperability with NATO. – Ukraine needs armored and armored equipment to defend independence. We request Ukraine's success to halt Russia," said the head of the Polish Defence Ministry. The allies besides signed a paper that would let cooperation and exchange of experience to respective 100 universities related to defence from 60 countries. Poland represents the Naval Academy in this project. “This is an crucial training initiative,” said the Minister.
As the head of the Polish MON said, many issues concerning Poland were besides raised in Brussels. Among another things, NATO's greater commitment to securing the logistics hub in Rzeszów, which brings support from allies to Ukraine. He besides announced that the Multinational North East Corps, which is stationed in Szczecin, will be strengthened. And another very crucial information. Poland, together with Germany and Sweden, will be in charge of rotating allied operations in the Baltic," he said. I've been after this since I became a minister. This is already confirmed by NATO countries," noted the Deputy Prime Minister.
Among the topics discussed in Brussels were: situation prevailing on the Polish-Belarusian border. “There is more and more evidence that the nature of the operation conducted against Poland by Belarus has changed”, said the Minister of Defence. He pointed out that in this area there are no longer people who want to cross the border, but who want to attack it. He added that he talked to his allies about building issues Eastern Shields. "This is our national initiative, but we want to do it in agreement with the Baltic States, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, besides working with Finland," said the Deputy Prime Minister. “It is about exchanging experience and coordinating actions, about cooperating in building safety on our border”, he explained.
Władysław Kosiniak-Kamish besides referred to the information that Americans wanted to review 1 of their air defence systems Patriot from Poland to Ukraine. – The presence of Patriot systems in Poland will continue. We have this confirmation from Lloyd J. Austin, US Secretary of Defense," said the head of the Polish MON in Brussels. He besides assured that Poland itself would not send specified weapons across the east border. – These are fake news that individual is trying to spread – he warned.
The Deputy Prime Minister besides informed that as of today, according to the information provided by the Head of the General Staff of the Polish Army, the Polish armed forces are already supplying 200,000 soldiers. “This year is simply a evidence year in terms of recruitment to the Polish Army,” Kosiniak-Kamysz noted. – We are 1 of the strongest land armies in NATO. That's something to be arrogant of.
