NATO allies are expected to agree to provide special equipment to protect Ukraine from any chemical, biological or nuclear attacks by Russia at the Western military alliance’s emergency summit on Thursday.
Jens Stoltenberg, the organization’s secretary-general, also told Russia to stop engaging in “nuclear saber-rattling” and repeatedly warned that the Kremlin could seek “an excuse” to use chemical weapons as the war spiraled into a second month goes.
“I assume that allies will agree to provide additional support,” including “equipment to help Ukraine protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats,” he said the day before the meeting.
The NATO chief declined to say exactly what would be delivered, although it will likely include gas masks and hazmat suits. But his statement reflects heightened uncertainty among Allies about Russia’s intentions as the invasion of Ukraine has stalled on multiple fronts.
Stoltenberg described Russian statements that it would be ready to use nuclear weapons if NATO entered the conflict directly as “dangerous and … irresponsible”. On Tuesday, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said nuclear weapons could be used if Moscow felt it faced an “existential threat.”
The Secretary-General acknowledged that NATO was “concerned about the possibility of using chemical or biological weapons” in Ukraine, in part because of “false claims that Ukraine, backed by NATO allies, [is] Manufacturing and Preparation for Use of Chemical Weapons”.
No hard evidence was presented to justify the Russian comments, but Stoltenberg said such allegations could be “a way for them to try in some way to create the pretext for their use of chemical weapons” – almost repeating an allegation identical warning from US President Joe Biden overnight before he travels to Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address Thursday morning via video link with Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the other NATO leaders gathering in Brussels in an emergency meeting to discuss further military responses to the ongoing crisis being unleashed by the Russian invasion was triggered last month.
Poland is expected to present a proposal for a multinational peacekeeping mission in Ukraine at the meeting. But there is no support from the US or many other allies for a no-fly zone or any other direct NATO intervention, despite the increasingly bloody fighting.
Stoltenberg was quick to downplay any possibility of direct military involvement. “NATO will not send troops to Ukraine,” said the Secretary General, making a distinction between member countries supplying anti-tank and other weapons to Kyiv and the use of ground forces.
“When it comes to armed forces, NATO is not part of the conflict. We support Ukraine, but we are not part of the conflict. We are helping Ukraine to uphold the right to self-defense enshrined in the UN Charter,” said the Secretary-General, indicating that the Polish proposal is unlikely to develop further for the time being.
The Kremlin has warned NATO countries not to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine as this could lead to a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.
An operation is a “reckless and extremely dangerous decision,” said Peskow on Wednesday in a telephone conversation with journalists.
“A special military operation is underway and any possible contact of our troops with NATO troops can lead to very clear consequences that would be difficult to remedy,” Peskow said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov had previously described Western military supplies to Ukraine as “legitimate military targets” and hinted that Russia could be on the verge of entering a direct confrontation with NATO countries that are sending lethal aid to Ukraine.
But so far Russia has not directly targeted the supplies, Western officials said.
Analysts also saw Russia’s stationing of sophisticated air defense systems in Belarus and military operations in the Black Sea before its invasion of Ukraine as a signal to Western countries not to intervene in the conflict. Putin also conducted military exercises of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces in late February.
NATO leaders are also expected to agree on Thursday to step up troop deployments on their eastern flank with the creation of four new multinational battlegroups in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary to protect them from a sudden Russian attack. in addition to the states already established in Poland and the Baltic States.
There will also be talks of an even stronger military presence near Russia, as part of a process to be concluded at the planned NATO summit in June. “I expect that some of this will significantly increase our field presence in the eastern part of the alliance in the long term,” Stoltenberg added.
The NATO meeting is one of a series of meetings of heads of state and government taking place in Brussels on Thursday. G7 and EU leaders are also holding meetings later in the day, with Biden attending the EU summit. The other meetings are likely to focus on agreeing further tightening of economic sanctions.