Most of the news coming out of the NATO summit presser in Madrid was expected if you read Markos’ Ukraine update from earlier today, but there were a few items that I found interesting, and even surprising. Stoltenberg opened his remarks with a mention of NATO’s partners:
Good afternoon.
We have just concluded a meeting with some of NATO’s closest partners.
The European Union.
Georgia.
Finland and Sweden.
And for the first time at a NATO Summit, our Indo-Pacific partners:
Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea.
His first remarks weren’t about Ukraine or Russia but about China, and they help explain why those Indo-Pacific partners were there:
We see a deepening strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing.
And China’s growing assertiveness and its coercive policies have consequences for the security of Allies and our partners.
China is substantially building up its military forces, including nuclear weapons.
Bullying its neighbours, and threatening Taiwan.
Investing heavily in critical infrastructure, including in Allied countries.
Monitoring and controlling its own citizens through advanced technology.
And spreading Russian lies and disinformation.
China is not our adversary.
But we must be clear-eyed about the serious challenges it represents.
And we must continue to stand with our partners to preserve the rules-based international order.
A global system based on norms and values.
Instead of brute violence.
So NATO will step up cooperation with our Indo-Pacific partners.
Including on cyber defence, new technologies, maritime security, climate change, and countering disinformation.
Because these global challenges demand global solutions.
Memo to China: Just because we’re focused on Ukraine doesn’t mean we’ve lost sight of you and your ambitions. We don’t consider you to be our adversary the way we view Russia, but we’re not ignoring you and the threat that you could pose.
Then he pivoted to Ukraine and the threat Russia poses to other independent republics:
Yesterday, Allies approved an enhanced package of support for Ukraine.
Helping to equip and strengthen the country for the long term.
And we agreed to step up political and practical support for other partners at risk from Russian aggression.
Including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and the Republic of Moldova.
We will help them to build their capabilities, and strengthen their resilience.
I first read that last phrase as “We will help them to strengthen their resistance” and thought that alone should give Putin a migraine.
Then Stoltenberg went somewhere truly unexpected:
Tonight, Allied Foreign Ministers will meet with Jordan and Mauritania.
Reaffirming our determination to continue responding to challenges from south, including the Sahel.
For the first time, Allies have today agreed a defence capacity-building package for Mauritania.
We will help them deal with security concerns including border security, irregular migration, and terrorism.
Based on Mauritania’s requests, we will focus our support in a number of key areas.
Including special operations, maritime security, and intelligence.
Jordan? Mauritania? I don’t know whether Putin chased them into NATO’s arms, but I found this really interesting.
Reuters has a piece up that notes:
NATO's 30 allies… also agreed to formally treat Russia as the "most significant and direct threat to the allies' security", according to a summit statement.
[…] Allies also agreed on NATO's first new strategic concept - its master planning document - in a decade. Russia, previously classed as a strategic partner of NATO, is now identified as NATO's main threat.
NATO’s 10-year master plan* sees Russia as an enduring threat, and is taking measures to protect itself, its partners, and unaligned nations that were formerly part of the Soviet sphere of influence. And part of that protection will be a new defense technology innovation accelerator:
NATO released its new Strategic Concept on Wednesday, and leaders are expected to offer pledges to establish a new “Defense Innovation Accelerator” for the North Atlantic.
[…] NATO’s new Strategic Concept, released Wednesday, states: “Emerging and disruptive technologies bring both opportunities and risks. They are altering the character of conflict, acquiring greater strategic importance and becoming key arenas of global competition. Technological primacy increasingly influences success on the battlefield.”
[…] The new Strategic Concept — the first update in more than a decade — also focuses on space as a key technology area and warfighting domain.
* The document isn’t long, only 16 pages, and can be read here.
We’ll see whether tomorrow’s session provides additional surprises. Putin must be pissed. Will he overreact?