NATO leaders headed home Friday after a three-day summit in which they celebrated the alliance's 75th anniversary and made long-term commitments of military support for Ukraine, promising its future is in NATO. The leaders also called out China, Iran and North Korea for enabling Russia in its war against Ukraine.
In their final summit statement, the allies said Russia's invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago had "shattered peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area and gravely undermined global security."
Declaring that Russia "remains the most significant and direct threat to Allies' security," NATO allies took steps to ensure Ukraine prevails against the invader.
The alliance agreed to a pledge of long-term security assistance for Ukraine and established a new military command known as NATO Security Assistance and Training Ukraine, or NSATU, to coordinate the provision of military equipment and training for Ukraine.
At a news conference Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance will coordinate contributions of training, equipment and other support for Ukraine's war effort using a command center in Wiesbaden, Germany, and logistic hubs in the eastern part of the alliance.
Stoltenberg said NATO allies agreed to an annual baseline pledge of about $43 billion for Ukraine. He made further announcements during the summit of immediate military aid to Ukraine, including critical air defense weapons.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics told VOA's Georgian Service that the message sent by the summit to Russia was "despite all the attempts by Russia to break our unity, we are united."
"Defense spending [by NATO members] is increasing as we speak. Military industry is going to get a boost. Countries that are bordering Russia will get additional troops from other NATO allies, and countries will get also necessary assets for air defense and for their protection," he said.
In an interview with VOA's Korean Service, former NATO Deputy Secretary-General Rose Gottemoeller said the firm support extended to Ukraine sends a strong message to those in the world concerned about Russian aggression.
She said it shows NATO is committed to "ensuring that this does not turn into an example for autocrats in other parts of the world."
Stoltenberg noted the participation of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in the discussions demonstrated how interlinked European security is with the Indo-Pacific.
"We all know that Russia's illegal war against Ukraine is supported by China, by Iran but not least by North Korea," Stoltenberg said.
In the final summit statement, the NATO allies pointed out that North Korea and Iran are fueling Russia's war effort by supplying direct military support in the form of ammunition and drones.
The allies also called out China as "a decisive enabler of Russia's war against Ukraine" through its large-scale support of Russia' defense industrial base. While not sending Russia direct military aid, China enables Russia by supplying Russia with dual-use materials, such as weapons components, equipment and raw materials that serve as inputs for Russia's defense sector.
Through its statement, the NATO allies called on Beijing to end its support for Russia, saying China "cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation."
A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, Lin Jian, said at a daily briefing Thursday that "NATO hyping up China's responsibility on the Ukraine issue is unreasonable and has sinister motives." He said China's trade with Russia is legitimate and based on World Trade Organization rules.
Eka Maghaldadze of VOA's Georgian Service contributed to this report.
