Whether this means that additional Canadian troops will be sent to the Baltic country – or whether they will come from other allied nations – is unclear. The agreement was hastily signed on Wednesday afternoon and the prime minister’s office did not provide details. Both the NATO Secretary General and the Prime Minister of Estonia thanked Canada publicly and via Twitter for their additional support before the formal signing of the agreement. The United States will add a rotating brigade of troops to Romania, where a French-led battle group has recently been set up and plans to further strengthen forces in the Baltic states, President Joe Biden told other Western leaders at the start of the meeting. The United States will also send two more F-35 squadrons to the United Kingdom and install air-to-air defense systems in Germany and Italy. Importantly, the US will set up a permanent headquarters in Poland for the Fifth Army Corps, which will coordinate defense in Eastern Europe in the event of further Russian aggression. The measures announced Wednesday are in addition to the 100,000 existing US troops already based in Europe.
Russia “broke the peace”
“At one point [Russian President Vladimir] “Putin has destroyed peace in Europe and attacked the very principles of the rule-based order, the United States and our allies – we are stepping up,” Biden told the summit. “The steps we are taking during this summit are going to further strengthen our collective strength.” NATO leaders are discussing what constitutes a two-step process to boost the security of its 30 members, which will soon become 32. CLOCKS NATO Secretary General welcomes the swift accession of Sweden and Finland:
NATO chief praises ‘fastest accession process ever’ for Finland, Sweden accession
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg praised the speedy accession process for Finland and Sweden, saying the historic move proved that NATO’s doors remain open. The Western military alliance will reinforce existing battlefield deployments in the area, making it a brigade-sized force with between 5,000 and 6,000 troops.
Increase of high readiness troops
It also plans to put more troops – 300,000 in total – on high alert to act as rapid support for troops already on the ground. Both Britain and Germany said before the summit that they intended to deploy their troops to the Baltic states. Prime Minister Justin Trinto was uneasy when asked on Tuesday whether Canada would add to his body in Latvia, saying his government was “developing plans to be able to escalate quickly” but that more discussions would take place during the summit. CLOCKS NATO emphasizes the importance of Member States’ contributions to spending:
The NATO leader expects all members to achieve the 2% spending target.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the world had become more dangerous, so Member States “should be able to increase defense spending” as tensions rise. Both Spain and Denmark are also major troop contributors along with Canada to Latvia. Trinto met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Wednesday, shortly before the start of the summit. “All Europeans are surprised and shocked that war is returning to the European continent,” Frederiksen said. Following the invasion of Ukraine last winter, Denmark rushed nearly 800 troops to Latvia to reinforce the NATO force. Fredericksen spoke of the seriousness of the situation and the need for allies at this time. “We really need our friends … in this situation,” he said. “This is a difficult situation for Europe. I think the most important thing we have to say about the war in Ukraine is that we have to win it and Ukraine has to win it.” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trinto appears at the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday. (Paul Chiasson / The Canadian Press) Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky addressed all 30 leaders – plus new applicants in Sweden and Finland – via video link – on Wednesday morning. He said his country needed more weapons and money to defend itself against Russia and warned that Moscow’s ambitions would not stop in Ukraine. “Russia must be isolated. It must not be present in the international bodies it wants to destroy,” Zelensky said.
