NATO foreign ministers meeting: Little concrete for Ukraine

The interim conclusions of the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting are sober: no concrete commitments to Ukraine, Sweden’s accession remains uncertain. Hope rests on the NATO-Ukraine Council, which meets on Wednesday.

The foreign ministers of the NATO countries didn’t bring much with them to Brussels – no new billions in aid for Ukraine, no new military packages that could support the country in the winter. And so after the first day, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg only had a thin result to announce: “At our meeting today, the members showed their determination to support Ukraine on its path to NATO.”

And that probably doesn’t even apply to everyone: Turkey and Hungary have not yet managed to finally agree to Sweden’s accession. Then how would they ever do it in the case of Ukraine?

NATO angry at Turkey

The fact that Sweden is still not a full NATO member because of Viktor Orban and Recep Tayyip Erdogan angers many foreign ministers. The Frenchwoman Catherine Colonna spoke of damage to the alliance. And NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg demanded: “I expect Parliament to end its discussion and agree as quickly as possible.”

The Finns are currently experiencing how vulnerable the north of Europe is. They have closed their last border crossing with Russia because new migrants were constantly coming into the country from there. For the NATO Secretary General, this is another example of how Russia is putting pressure on its neighbor. “So far there has been no request for a stronger NATO presence at the border. Border protection is a matter for the countries, sometimes supported by the border protection organization Frontex,” said NATO about the situation at the border.

First NATO-Ukraine Council

Perhaps the foreign ministers of the NATO countries have saved their concrete commitments for the second part of their meeting, the NATO-Ukraine Council. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will also be there for the first time. He will speak primarily to the Americans. So far they have shown themselves to be reliable allies. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “We reiterate our support for Ukraine as they face Russia’s aggression.”

But how long and how much depends primarily on the outcome of the elections in the USA next year. If the Republicans win with Donald Trump, there will probably be less help. Now the Americans are responsible for around half of the military aid.

Baerbock: “We keep ours Commitments a”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was also asked by foreign media whether Germany was reducing support given its budget problems. “Under no circumstances,” assured Baerbock, “we will keep our commitments and have even increased them to eight billion euros.” Peace in Ukraine is also the guarantee for peace in Europe, said the German Foreign Minister.

Cameron is at it again

But the country is far from peace in Ukraine. Winter is just around the corner, the offensive is not making any progress, the promised ammunition from Europe is not coming, and the infrastructure is at great risk. The NATO foreign ministers will talk about all this with the Ukrainian foreign minister.

A familiar face also reappeared. David Cameron, the new British Foreign Secretary. He used to sit at the table with the heads of government, then Brexit came. But at least the British remained in NATO – and so Cameron was allowed to return to Brussels as Foreign Minister.