WAR IN UKRAINE: June 29, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 129 - I’m reporting today from the NATO leaders summit in Madrid
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has pledged Nato's long-term support to Ukraine, by expanding its commitments to the nation. Ukraine will receive: secure communications: fuel; medical supplies; body armour; equipment to counter mines and chemical and biological threats; hundreds of portable anti-drone systems. He added this will help Ukraine transition from Soviet-era equipment to modern Nato equipment.
Jens Stoltenberg added: “All of this shows our commitment to Ukraine's future and that our commitment is unshakeable. A strong independent Ukraine is vital for the stability of the Euro-Atlantic area”
Not unlike most global summits, the NATO meeting, which includes U.S. President Joe Biden, has caused traffic snarls in the capital. A huge police presence has been mobilized to protect the leaders, and at least one hotelier complained to me about closed roads and a lack of information about traffic disruptions.
US President Joe Biden said in Madrid today that as part of bolstering NATO the alliance will: US establish a permanent HQ for 5th Army Corps in Poland, extra rotational brigade of 3,000 troops in Romania, enhance rotational deployments to Baltic states, send 2 F-35 fighter jet squadrons to UK, additional air defense/other capabilities in Germany & Italy. Biden reiterated that the alliance will defend “every inch” of NATO territory.
Vladimir Putin was hoping that’ he’d get less NATO. He’s been proven completely wrong - he’s getting more NATO - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the expansion of NATO to include Finland and Sweden. The Polish President said there’s been an enormous change of heart towards Russia within NATO. Russia is now seen as the greatest threat towards the alliance.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky via video link to the NATO summit: NATO will only now recognize Russia as a main threat to the Alliance, but Russia perceived NATO as an enemy for a long time. “If you believe Russia is your main threat, you should support its main target, Ukraine'
Russian forces continue to press ahead with their assault on Lysychansk, with regional officials saying the situation was "very difficult" in the last Ukrainian holdout in the east. Separately, a missile strike killed at least three people in a residential building in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv on June 29 - RFE/RL
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) called upon all NATO countries to provide maximum, immediate, and comprehensive military and economic support for Ukraine. It should include “uninterrupted deliveries to Ukraine of modern NATO-standard long-range and heavy weapons and respective ammunition, tanks, multiple rocket launchers, military drones, air and missile defense systems.” The UWC also called for a NATO naval mission to the Black Sea to protect and convoy Ukrainian cargo ships, including those carrying grain, and secure uninterrupted commercial sea traffic, which would ease the global food crisis that resulted from Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine and the Kremlin’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.