US President Joe Biden and several world leaders on Thursday opened the first of three crisis summits with a somber warning from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that the alliance must beef up its defenses to deal with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and “to a new security reality in Europe”.
Stoltenberg made the comments at the start of a NATO summit aimed at increasing pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin over aggression against Ukraine, without neglecting the economic and security implications in Europe and the rest of the world.
“We meet at a critical time for our security,” Stoltenberg said, addressing the leaders gathered around a large round table. “We agree to condemn the Kremlin’s unprovoked aggression and to support Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The alliance, he said, “is committed to continuing to impose costs on Russia to end this brutal war.”
Later in the day, Europe’s diplomatic capital will host the NATO emergency summit, a meeting of the group of seven most industrialized countries and an EU summit. Biden will attend all three meetings and then hold a press conference.
Brussels was on the day’s agenda, peppered with police checkpoints and roadblocks to help official motorcades traverse the city as leaders moved from meeting to meeting.
Biden arrived Wednesday night to persuade his allies to impose fresh sanctions on Russia, whose economy has been hit by weeks of bans, boycotts and punitive measures.
Although the West has for the most part displayed a united front with Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, it is widely acknowledged that this unity will be tested when the costs of war hit the world economy.
The increase in troops on NATO’s eastern flank, which will almost certainly take five to ten years to effectively deter Russia, will also weigh on national budgets.
“We need to do more, and therefore we need to invest more. There is a renewed sense of urgency and I am counting on leaders to agree to accelerate defense investment,” Stoltenberg said ahead of the summit.
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States wanted to hear “that the resolve and unity we’ve seen over the past month will last as long as it takes.”
The energy crisis, exacerbated by the war, will be a particularly sensitive issue at the European Council summit, where leaders from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece are hoping for a coordinated blocwide response. EU officials have said they will seek help from the United States to boost natural gas storage for next winter and also want the bloc to make joint gas purchases.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected calls for a boycott of Russian energy supplies on the grounds that this would severely damage his country’s economy. Scholz is under pressure from environmental activists to quickly reduce its reliance on Russian energy, but said the process must be gradual.
“To do that overnight would mean plunging our country and all of Europe into a recession,” said Scholz on Wednesday.
Poland and other countries on NATO’s eastern flank will also want to clarify how the United States and other European countries can help with their growing concerns about Russian aggression and the refugee crisis. More than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine in recent weeks, including more than 2 million who have arrived in Poland.
Biden was scheduled to visit Poland on Friday, where the two issues were expected to dominate his talks with President Andrzej Duda. Another important moment could come just before Biden returns to Washington on Saturday.
The White House said it plans to “make statements about the united efforts of the free world to stand by the people of Ukraine, hold Russia accountable for its brutal war and defend a future rooted in democratic principles.” “.