Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky may need to get better at Twitter. Chiming into the NATO summit Twitter conversation, the Ukrainian leader tweeted this afternoon<\/a> that Ukraine \u201cwill become a member of the Alliance\u201d<\/a> \u2014 a juicy-sounding claim some interpreted to mean Ukraine would be joining the alliance immediately. If true, that claim would upend Wednesday\u2019s Biden-Putin head-to-head summit. Instead, the alliance merely reiterated a 2008 commitment that Ukraine will one day become a member, and President Joe Biden later confirmed \u2014 at a press conference held two hours behind schedule \u2014 that Ukraine did not yet meet NATO membership criteria. <\/p>\n In the summit communique<\/a>, NATO members stopped short of labeling China a threat, but did little else to conceal their concerns, referencing \u201csystemic competition from assertive and authoritarian powers.\u201d The allies criticized Russia directly, saying it has \u201cintensified its hybrid actions against NATO Allies and partners, including through proxies.\u201d<\/p>\n Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi kept up the anti-Trump tone of the European leaders. Draghi stressed that \u201cPresident Biden’s first visit is to Europe\u201d and asked journalists to \u201ctry to remember where President Trump’s first visit was.\u201d The answer: Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n As NATO finalized its cyber defense plans, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance will ready itself to respond jointly to any attacks against members in space<\/a>. <\/p>\n Let\u2019s decode today\u2019s communique and NATO\u2019s new draft 10-year strategy <\/span><\/p>\n Rym Momtaz, senior correspondent, France:<\/span> There\u2019s a lot more on China in today\u2019s communique compared to 2019 \u2014 it\u2019s definitely a shift. There\u2019s also a lot of concern about Turkey and their purchase of Russian military equipment.<\/p>\n Macron was forced to follow Biden\u2019s lead on the NATO pivot to China, even while publicly saying, \u201cNATO is a North Atlantic organization, China has nothing to do with the North Atlantic.\u201d So, there\u2019s a lot of personal love between Macron and Biden, but some battles, too. <\/p>\n Alex Wickham, London Playbook author:<\/span> There\u2019s split between the European positions and U.S. line on China. Boris Johnson said he doesn\u2019t want to start a new Cold War on China, even as he is under huge pressure to take a tougher line from the hawkish wing of his own Conservative party. It\u2019ll be fascinating to see if Biden succeeds in getting the U.K. to take a tougher line. <\/p>\n Hans von der Burchard, politics reporters, Brussels:<\/span> Angela Merkel added her weight to the dove side of the argument. \u201cI think it is very important, similar to what we are doing with Russia, to always offer a political discussion, a political discourse, in order to find solutions,\u201d when it comes to China, she said.<\/p>\n Has this summit given Biden a boost going into his Putin head-to-head?<\/span><\/p>\n Ryan Heath, Global Translations author: <\/span>Yes. The communique leads with NATO\u2019s commitment to unity. NATO allies also rubber-stamped the G-7 communique from the weekend, meaning there\u2019s literal alignment between the two groupings as they get more organized in pushing back on autocrats. That\u2019s all Biden could wish for.<\/p>\n Nahal Toosi, foreign affairs correspondenT:<\/span> Sure. Anytime you can get your allies on board with most of your priorities, even if it\u2019s rhetoric for now, you\u2019ve strengthened your relations with an adversary. But I have to wonder a couple things: First, what if Trump (or someone like Trump) runs and wins in 2024? What do these NATO allies falling over to praise Biden do then? Second, Putin intends to stay in office past Biden and these other NATO leaders. How does that affect his calculus?<\/p>\n Momtaz: Absolutely, yes, Biden did get that boost. It\u2019s really very interesting the new ways G-7 and NATO are overlapping. Today the NATO allies even agreed to keep their military carbon emissions under control, which is a direct overlap between the G-7 prioritizing climate and today\u2019s defense focus. <\/p>\n Lili Bayer, political correspondent, Brussels: <\/span>Biden has rock solid support from the Baltics, which is no surprise. After leaders from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania met with Biden, Lithuanian President Gitanas Naus\u0117da tweeted: \u201cDuring turbulent times, democracies must stick together,\u201d<\/a> adding that NATO members \u201cagreed to strengthen\u201d NATO’s presence on the alliance’s eastern flank, as well as its support for Ukraine and Georgia. \u201cU.S. presence in the Baltics is crucial for the security of the whole alliance,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n What happened regarding national defense and NATO funding?<\/span><\/p>\n Primer on how NATO financing works<\/a><\/p>\n David Herszenhorn, chief Brussels correspondent:<\/span> Today’s summit is a giant payday for Stoltenberg and the entire team that works here at NATO headquarters. Leaders are committing to increasing all three strands of the alliance’s common funding<\/a>, i.e. the portion of the budget that goes to central operations, which is roughly $2.5 billion a year today. That\u2019s only 0.3 percent of total allied defense spending, and it was not a given that the budget would be increased. Support from Biden made a critical difference. <\/p>\n Momtaz: France is back in the NATO central command system, but was really unhappy about the NATO common spending proposal by Stoltenberg. France had to concede the point, so Stoltenberg got what he wanted. French Defense Minister Florence Parly told me France\u2019s worry isn\u2019t the idea per se, it\u2019s that NATO isn\u2019t able to tell Paris what they will spend the money on. <\/p>\n Annabelle Dickson, political correspondent, London: <\/span>Tobias Ellwood, chair of the U.K. Parliament\u2019s Defense Committee, is proposing the U.K. bump its defense spending up from 2.29 percent to 3 percent of GDP \u2014 well beyond the famous 2 percent target most NATO members still fail to reach. <\/p>\n Lara Seligman, defense correspondent, Washington:<\/span> NATO leaders committed to continue to provide training and financial support to the Afghan security forces<\/a>. The announcement ends speculation over what will happen to the NATO training mission in Afghanistan once U.S. and NATO forces leave the country by September. Pentagon officials have said the United States will end its own training program after the withdrawal, although Washington will continue funding the Afghan forces.<\/p>\n Anything noteworthy in the side meetings and events?<\/span><\/p>\n Heath: Turkey\u2019s President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan was at pains to downplay tensions between Ankara and its NATO allies today. He called his talk with Biden \u201cfruitful and sincere,\u201d despite significant differences of opinion, and invited Biden to Turkey. Important to note here that Turkey hasn\u2019t changed its position<\/a> on buying Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, which had been a major concern for NATO allies. After speaking with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Erdo\u011fan said he is looking to calm relations between the two countries and \u201cwill support a positive agenda\u201d following a period of surging tension. Angela Merkel favors rewarding more cooperative behavior from Ankara<\/a> in the eastern Mediterranean with benefits such as a modernization of the EU-Turkey customs union.<\/p>\n Dickson: Boris Johnson once again couldn\u2019t escape Brexit. The protocol for handling the Northern Ireland border was on the agenda for Johnson\u2019s meeting with Spanish PM Pedro S\u00e1nchez. <\/p>\n Momtaz: Speaking of Brexit, Emmanuel Macron clarified his Brexit comments from the G-7 summit, assuring that he would never question U.K. sovereignty over its territory. <\/p>\n Thanks for joining us for the NATO summit \u2014 tomorrow we move onto the EU-U.S. summit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n