Contents tagged with NATO

  • Ukraine asks US to make it a major non-NATO ally

    The Verkhovna Rada adopted an appeal to the US Congress with a plea to conclude a defense agreement with Ukraine and grant Ukraine the status of Major non-NATO ally.

    232 deputies voted for the adoption of the draft resolution.

    "In accordance with the spirit and letter of the Budapest Memorandum, as well as in developing a strategic partnership between our states, we are asking the United States to consider concluding a defense agreement with Ukraine and granting Ukraine the status of Major …

  • Lukashenko said NATO observers will be allowed to attend joint Russian-Belarusian exercises

    The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko said that the joint Belarusian-Russian exercise "Zapad-2017" will have purely defensive objectives so the representatives of NATO should be allowed to observe them. BelTA reports that he made the statement during consideration of the report on organizing joint strategic exercises between the Armed Forces of Belarus and Russia.

    "I demand cooperation from all of you so that this event on our country’s territory remains transparent. All activities …

  • Kosovo forms army despite NATO’s protests

    In spite of the sharp objections of NATO, the EU and the US, the Kosovo authorities are not backing down from their intention to create their own army. As reported by the Zeri newspaper published in Pristina on Saturday March 18, 51 million euros are to be allocated to the creation of the army.

    According to the publication, this amount will grow annually by 5 million euros.

    According to the plan, the army will consist of 8 000 military personnel, 3 000 of whom will be reservists, the …

  • US battalion was deployed to Lithuania on a permanent basis

    The presence of American troops in Lithuania is virtually permanent, said Curtis Scaparrotti, Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO.

    “We have forces here here 365 days a year. I want some flexibility on that, so it may not be [permanent deployment] but it will be nearly that if not that because of the forces we have,” Scaparrotti told reporters on Thursday.

    He noted that the rotation of the US battalion in Lithuania would take place in June and July, and the division would take part in the “ …

  • NATO does not recognize elections in Abkhazia

    The NATO bloc does not recognize the elections held in the occupied Georgian region of Abkhazia.

    This was announced by the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai, reports Ukrinform.

    "NATO does not recognize the elections held in Georgia's Abkhazia region on March 12. These elections do not contribute to resolving the situation in Georgia," the Secretary General's Special Representative emphasized.

    The Alliance also once again …

  • Russia refuses to inform NATO about upcoming military exercises

    Russia is not yet prepared to brief NATO on the upcoming military exercises, said Andrey Kelin, Director of the Department of European Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an Interfax interview on Monday.

    “We have not yet moved forward in establishing our relations to the extent that we can take steps such as the prospective explanation of such situations,” Kelin said, commenting on the words of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who expressed the hope on Monday …

  • Poll: 72 percent of participants in survey ready to vote in favor of Ukraine joining NATO

    Sixty-two percent of Ukrainians are ready to take part in a referendum regarding Ukraine joining NATO. Of these, 72% would vote in favor of Ukraine becoming part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. These were the results of a survey conducted by the Razumkov Center and the Democratic Initiatives Fund.

    Forty-four percent of the respondents feel that joining the alliance is the best way to ensure the security of the country.

    Sociologists note that since 2014 there has been a noticeable …

  • General Bradshaw: NATO needs to implement ‘hybrid deterrence’ against Russia

    The Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, British General Adrian Bradshaw, called on the Alliance to intensify opposition to Russian cyber attacks, propaganda and political agitation.

    According to the General, the West needs a common strategy to confront these threats. Bradshaw stated that the answer to such so-called "hybrid warfare" should be "hybrid deterrence." As an example of such deterrence, he specifically cited economic sanctions against Russia.

    Additionally, according to …

  • NATO urged Russia to withdraw its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent regions

    RIA Novosti reported that the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel urged Russia to "withdraw recognition" of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

    "We call on Russia to withdraw its recognition of independence of the two regions and to express respect for Georgian borders," InterpressNews news agency quotes him as saying after the meeting with Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria.

    Pavel also believes that Russia should be involved in safeguarding the security of the Black Sea. " …

  • Ukraine wants to replenish its Navy with old NATO ships

    NATO countries can transfer ships released from active duty that will suit Ukrainian needs to the Ukrainian Naval Forces, using a variety of payment plans. Commander of the Ukrainian Navy Ihor Voronchenko discussed the possibility during a broadcast on Ukrainian "Channel Five".

    "Groups of negotiators from Ukraine have departed for discussions. One group of Navy officers has already returned; I do not have the right to name the country, but the group has returned from abroad, and as a result …