Europe and America's message to Russia at the Bucharest meetings
The meeting of the political leaders of the Munich Security Conference with the participation of the Romanian ministry of foreign affairs was held at the same time as the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest.
The meeting of the political leaders of the Munich Security Conference with the participation of the Romanian ministry of foreign affairs was held at the same time as the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest. Holding this event for the first time in Southeast Europe shows a clear message from the heads of European countries to the developments in Ukraine.
The agenda of the Bucharest meetings includes issues related to international security with an emphasis on developments in Eastern Europe, the Black Sea region and the Western Balkans. Other topics discussed were European security architecture, implementation of NATO's new strategic concept, hybrid threats, food security, energy crisis.
The exchange of views between the foreign ministers of NATO member countries along with their counterparts from partner and guest countries led them to adopt measures to strengthen defense and deterrence in the eastern flank in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war.
In these meetings, increasing allies' support for Ukraine, combating threats caused by hybrid war, ways to manage long-term challenges caused by China's actions, strengthening the flexibility of the Euro-Atlantic group, including in the field of energy, and especially continuing to support the increase of tolerance in the countries of Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was also noticed. Also, this meeting provided an opportunity for a strategic assessment of global challenges for the security of the alliance.
At the Bucharest meeting, Ukraine's request to increase arms shipments from Western partners was repeated. In this regard, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Koleba said: "Ukraine's request to its Western allies is to provide the necessary weapons and generators/transformers faster, faster, faster."
It seems that a kind of consensus regarding the continuation of aid to Ukraine with the aim of preventing Russia's victory in the war was emphasized in both Bucharest meetings. In this regard, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said after meeting with Romanian President Iohannis: "War is hard to predict. Putin underestimated the power of the military in Ukraine and believed that he could take control of the entire country in just a few days and then the Russian forces were pushed back. Our duty is to support Ukraine; Because we know that the only way to achieve a positive result is to strengthen their fighting capacity, because at some point the war will probably end at the negotiating table, but the outcome of the negotiations depends on the situation on the battlefield."
However, the officials of NATO member states and Western politicians tried to find new ways to respond to Russia and support Ukraine in terms of military and humanitarian in the two Bucharest summits. Currently, the main challenge of the people of Ukraine is the harsh winter due to the lack of energy and essential means of life.
The Bucharest summit was another opportunity to assess the latest situation in Ukraine and the need to strengthen the organization's forces in the Black Sea region. Of course, it is clear that the Bucharest meetings were about concerns for which there are few definitive solutions. In addition, experts and political leaders believe that Putin will try to spend his time during the winter to strengthen his army and replace it with a new force consisting of soldiers who have been mobilized in recent months and provide them with the necessary and effective equipment.
Therefore, the main effort of the Americans and the British in the two Bucharest summits is focused on encouraging the NATO member states to continue supporting Ukraine in all fields, especially the delivery of weapons. It is not a secret that the continuation of this process will not result in the emptying of weapons warehouses and the requirement of new orders and the prosperity of military industries on both sides of the Atlantic. In fact, Russia's special operation in Ukraine has greatly contributed to America's goals in Europe, such as the expansion of NATO to the East, greater defense and security dependence of the Green Continent on America, and the strengthening of militarism with the development of Western military industries. Therefore, the war in Ukraine will continue with the full support of the West until the expansionist goals of the Washington-London axis are established.
Ali Beman Eghbalizarch ,Eurasia Senior Expert
(The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the IPIS)