What Are the Decisions Taken at the NATO Leaders' Summit?

No Action Talk Only

NATO; During the Cold War, it became famous as an international organization that used phrases like No Action Talk Only or Not After Two O'clock (NATO Doesn't Work After 2 PM) to emphasize its passivity. However, one of the reasons for the continuation of the Alliance after the Cold War was the eastward expansion process, which also brought dynamism to NATO.

The enlargement of NATO has also produced positive results in terms of the internal reform processes initiated by the candidate countries for membership in the Alliance. In the meantime, it has become easier for NATO members and especially the USA to increase their influence on candidate countries. Launched in 1994, NATO's Partnership for Peace policy contributed to the integration of Eastern European countries into the European Union and NATO, and played a role in distancing these countries from the Russians in the 1990s.

Victims of NATO Enlargement: Georgia and Ukraine

Thus, enlargement has accelerated the transformation of NATO from a regional organization to a global organization. Former Warsaw Pact member Eastern European countries, which are included in the membership journey voluntarily, have begun to align their military structures with NATO's standards. The perspective of integration with the European and Euro-Atlantic institutions continued to be an important incentive for the countries of the region to continue their reform processes.

The military and political contacts of these countries with NATO increased NATO's influence in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, and contributed to reducing the risk of conflict between the countries in these regions. On the other hand, the enlargement process has increased the risks of conflict with the Russian Federation, especially for countries such as Ukraine, the Baltic countries, Finland, Sweden, Moldova, Belarus and Georgia. In this respect, while NATO enlargement brought stability to the Balkans, it caused the instability of Eastern Europe and the Russian threat to these countries.

Before Russia became strong enough, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and the Baltic states, along with some Balkan countries, managed to join NATO early.

Despite the NATO determination displayed in Bucharest in April 2008, the membership process of Georgia and Ukraine, which is on this path, has been a problem between NATO and Russia. First Georgia, then Ukraine; As a result of the military operations organized by the Russians in these countries, they had to suspend their membership process.

Worse still for Ukraine, Putin, who was not content with the Crimean peninsula, entered the Ukrainian territory from four directions to make all Ukraine a part of Russian territory as of February 24, 2022.

The War Continues:

Biden; It has managed to unite the heads of state and government of the Alliance around a strong leadership to support the resistance of the Ukrainians against the Russian Army, forgetting the inexperience of NATO during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

On Thursday, March 24, 2022, a month after the start of the war, the leaders of the 30 NATO member countries gathered in Brussels, to extend the mandate of 63-year-old NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who has demonstrated a high performance in this crisis and before, and is the prominent face of Alliance solidarity. extended another year.

Speaking at the press conference regarding the results of the summit, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg; “The conflict should not turn into an all-out war between NATO and Russia. For this reason, NATO allies have once again agreed not to send troops to Ukraine. Yes, this sentence has been NATO's main philosophy towards the Russia-Ukraine War, as if confirming the 'No Action Talking Only' adjective.

However, NATO leaders remained unanimous on the need for greater support to Ukraine. Expressing that they support the right of the Ukrainians to self-defense against the Russians, the Allies decided to take measures to increase their defense support. In this context, it was envisaged that more anti-tank, air defense systems and drone aid would be provided to the Ukrainians. Because, it has been seen that such military aids have provided great benefits on the field to the Ukrainian insurgents, who are currently trying to stop the Russian army with unconventional wars and city wars instead of regular army wars. In the meantime, covert intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance support will continue to be given to the Ukrainians, especially by the USA and the UK.

Taking into account the possibility of Russia using nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, which was reflected in Putin's statements, NATO also planned to provide Ukraine with some defense equipment to use against such threats.

NATO wants this war not to spill beyond Ukraine's borders

NATO members; They announced that they decided to provide all kinds of support, except force support, with the summit meeting, in order to increase the aid to Ukraine and to make the resistance in this country successful.

Biden; In the statement he made after the summit, he declared that they would continue the sanctions that would stop Putin and enable the Russians to give up the occupation, in short, to "pain" the Russians. He emphasized that the sanctions were not made for deterrence but specifically to inflict pain, to make the Russians suffer and ultimately give up their occupation of Ukraine.

Both Biden and Stoltenberg thanked NATO members for the firm stand of assistance. Both leaders especially underlined that the conflict should not go beyond Ukraine's borders. They stated that if this happens, it will be dangerous and destructive for the whole world.

Biden said that he was especially pleased with the fact that NATO members act together, integrate, unite (unified) and that he gained strength from this unity, and expressed his belief that continuing in this way would spoil all of Putin's calculations.

NATO's Ukraine Strategy:

NATO members have come together swiftly and unitedly around a common strategy, displaying a determined stance and a coherent strategy to meet this challenge. The three legs of the strategy:

- Support the Ukrainians,
- Increasing NATO presence in Eastern Europe
- It has been explained as drawing the Asia-Pacific countries to the side of NATO.

Supporting Ukrainians:

NATO countries did not include the option of direct participation of their armies in the war on their agenda. They have committed to providing as much support as possible to Ukraine in its efforts to curb Russian aggression. NATO has now deemed it necessary to race against time on this issue. It has become a priority for NATO countries to supply Ukraine with vital anti-armor and air defense weapons before they run out.

In this context, the aid provided by individual countries, in general, gives the impression that they are carried out in accordance with this strategy and are managed from a central point.

Alliance members did not take kindly to the option of declaring a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Considering that the no-fly zone implementation would require NATO forces to attack Russian air defense systems in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, the allies evaluated that this would start a full-fledged war between NATO and Russia, and they refrained from taking a decision in this direction despite Zelenksky's expectations.

Increasing NATO Presence and Deterrence in Eastern Europe:

Second, the member states agreed that NATO should attach importance to strengthening the security of NATO's member states, which are exposed to the most threat or perceived threat, especially with its borders with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. NATO forces, deployed on a much more ambitious time scale and militarily stronger than post-2014 deployments in Poland, the Baltic Republics, and Romania, are beginning to take their place.

In my opinion, no matter how the war in Ukraine ends, NATO is preparing to move into Cold War force talk against the Russians. NATO Commander-in-Chief SACEUR is preparing to serve with a mandate responsible for collecting intelligence in regions close to Russia, operating the warning and warning system, deploying air defense and early warning control aircraft, unarmed unmanned aerial vehicles, and using air policing duties more flexibly. It is considered that countries will also support this.

NATO Pulls the Iron Curtain on Russia Even If The Russians Don't

If Ukraine can remain an independent state after the war, it will undoubtedly take its place on the European stage as a stronger and more self-confident state than before February 24. The consciousness of the nation will rise and the Ukrainians will have completed the nation-building process at the end of this war. From this point on, being a member of NATO and being a part of the EU will definitely be the natural right of Ukrainians. If this happens, there will be no obstacles to Moldova and Belarus following the Ukrainians.

Finland and Sweden may become part of NATO, depending on the course of the war. Especially in Finland, the number of those who are warmly interested in NATO membership continues to increase day by day. It is not known whether Finnish realpolitik assessments will turn the needle to NATO, but the Finns are determined not to relive 1939 and do not want to be exposed to Russian occupation again.

Attracting Asia-Pacific Countries to NATO's Side:

NATO and EU countries have agreed to implement a major sanctions program that aims to harm the Russian economy as much as possible, taking the Asia-Pacific countries with them. The main goal of the US leadership has been recognized as a goal on paper.

The cooperation and close working within NATO and the EU is now sought to be integrated and globalized with the Asia-Pacific. The purpose of these sanctions is designed in two ways. The first is to make Russia pay for its aggression. The second was determined to make it harder for Russia to maintain a long conflict in Ukraine, while enabling the Ukrainians to resist a prolonged conflict.

The primary objective of the summit and other EU leaders attending this summit was determined to maintain the pressure on NATO and other non-EU states to implement this strategy and to ensure that they are part of the sanctions. It is calculated that this war will be long-term, and a long-term war of attrition will take place on the field, even if there are pauses in between. For this reason, it is based on the strategy of ensuring that the Ukrainians wear out less on the field, with sanctions that will wear out the Russians off the field.

Conclusion:

At the end of the summit, the biggest factor that could disrupt this strategy, which NATO put forward and renewed its faith, will be the Russians' launching of nuclear weapons. The world is indeed going through a delicate period leading up to the Third World War.