NATO Alliance

Donald Trump on Sunday pushed Russian leader Vladimir Putin to act to reach an immediate cease-fire with Ukraine, describing it as part of his active efforts as president-elect to end the war despite being weeks from taking office. Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal," Trump wrote on social media, referring to Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In a television interview that aired Sunday, Trump also said he would be open to reducing military aid to Ukraine and pulling the United States out of NATO. Those are two threats that have alarmed Ukraine, NATO allies and many in the US national security community. Asked on NBC's Meet the Press if he were actively working to end the nearly 3-year-old Ukraine war, Trump said, I am. He refused to say if he had spoken to Putin since winning the election in November. I don't want to say anything about that, because I don't want to do anything that could impede the negotiation, Trump said. Trump's call for an immediate cease-fi

Zelenskyy made the comments in an interview with Sky News broadcast Friday when asked about a scenario in which Nato security guarantees covered only territory controlled by Kyiv

Cyprus could apply to become a member of NATO once its armed forces receive the necessary training and equipment with US help to bring them up to the standards of the world's premier military alliance, the president of the Mediterranean island nation said Thursday. President Nikos Christodoulides put Cyprus on a trajectory for possible NATO membership, ending weeks of media speculation about his government's intentions following his meeting with President Joe Biden in Washington last month. The development goes against Cyprus' long-held policy of neutrality harking back to the Cold War era, when it walked a political tightrope between Washington and Moscow. Christodoulides said that although Cyprus cannot join NATO at this time because of objections that alliance member Turkey would raise to its potential membership, the Cypriot National Guard shouldn't be denied the opportunity to upgrade its defensive capabilities with US assistance. Turkey, which maintains more than 35,000 troop

NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks Tuesday after Russia attacked a central city with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war. The conflict is entering a decisive phase, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday, and taking on very dramatic dimensions. Ukraine's parliament canceled a session as security was tightened following Thursday's Russian strike on a military facility in the city of Dnipro. In a stark warning to the West, President Vladimir Putin said in a nationally televised speech that the attack with the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was in retaliation for Kyiv's use of US and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory. Putin said Western air defence systems would be powerless to stop the new missile. Ukrainian military officials said the missile that hit Dnipro had reached a speed of Mach 11 and carried six nonnuclear warheads each releasing six submunitions. Speak

As North Korea may deploy as many as 100,000 troops to aid Russia's war on Ukraine, increasing the likelihood of North Korea becoming more directly involved in the conflict

The Biden Administration in the last four years has expanded America's relationship with India, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. "We strengthened NATO. We've pulled NATO together. We've kept 50 countries focused on providing security assistance to Ukraine. The things that we've done in the Indo-Pacific. Quite amazing," Austin told reporters in Florida. "We walked in the door, and we were about to get kicked out of the Philippines. We are 180 degrees out from that now. We have a great relationship with the Philippines, and we continue to work together in the ways that we should be working together. You look at AUKUS, which is a generational capability that is really going to make a significant difference going forward, he said. Austin said that America's relationship with India has improved under the Biden administration. "We walked in the door and Japan has doubled its investment in defense and the list goes on and on and on. So, despite supporting and managing security ...

This development comes after a significant incursion by the Ukrainian military in the Kursk area in August

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will seek support from European Union leaders on Thursday for what he is calling his victory plan to end the devastating war with Russia. Zelenskyy will address EU leaders at their summit in Brussels before shuttling across town to meet with NATO defence ministers. The EU is a key supporter of Ukraine a candidate member of the 27-nation bloc as it fights Russia's invasion that began more than 2 1/2 years ago. Zelenskyy outlined the five-point plan to Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday without disclosing confidential elements that have been presented in private to key allies, including the United States. Reaction was muted at NATO, where Secretary-General Mark Rutte said only that he and the allies take note of it. He did not discuss when Ukraine might join the world's biggest military alliance, beyond insisting that it would eventually become a member. The plan has many aspects and many political and military issues we really need to hammer

NATO on Wednesday showed no sign it would be willing to invite Ukraine to join its ranks anytime soon as allies sought more information from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about his victory plan for ending the war with Russia. The plan centres on a request for NATO to move forward on the accelerated membership application that Zelenskyy made two years ago to seek protection under the military alliance's security umbrella after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. NATO's credibility is based on its collective security guarantee, Article 5 of its founding treaty. It's a political commitment by all 32 member countries to come to the aid of any member whose sovereignty or territory might be under attack. However, it does not apply to a partner country like Ukraine. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte declined to welcome the victory plan, saying only that he and the allies take note of it. He did not discuss when Ukraine might join the world's biggest military alliance, beyond insistin

Meetings in Europe, along with one in Berlin on Friday, were aimed at presenting Ukraine's position and possibly outlining its requirements for accepting future peace talks

Biden administration has so far said such an invitation would be a longer-term proposition that would require Ukraine to shore up its defense capabilities

Rutte will also have to handle pressure from some members to devote more attention to counter-terrorism and reinforce Nato's southern flank

Few security analysts expect European navies to play a frontline role in any conflict in the Pacific

A statement from Norad maintained that the bombers remained in international airspace in Alaska's Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) and were 'not seen as a threat'

Norway's Nammo and RTX's Raytheon business unit agreed to partner to build rocket motors

NATO leaders met this week to celebrate the alliance's 75th anniversary under the cloud of deep political uncertainty in its most powerful member the United States. But even as questions swirled about President Joe Biden's future and the implications of a possible return to the White House by NATO sceptic Donald Trump, the 32 allies put a brave face on their strength and unity going forward, particularly in relation to Ukraine. Over three days in Washington, Ukraine, Russia, the threat posed by an increasingly aggressive China and NATO's future dominated the formal summit discussions, although all eyes were on Biden. He hoped to use the summit as a symbol of his strength as leader of the free world as he struggles to salvage his reelection campaign. Biden is facing growing calls to withdraw after a poor debate performance against Trump last month. Here are key takeaways from the summit: Biden gets some slack Biden stunned the audience at a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council on

Nato members issued a declaration in support of Ukraine at a summit in Washington on Wednesday, promising additional aid and pledging to back its "irreversible path" to Nato membership

The 32-member NATO expressed concerns on Wednesday over the deepening relationship between Russia and China, and the latter's aggressive behaviour. "The People's Republic of China's (PRC) stated ambitions and coercive policies continue to challenge our interests, security and values. The deepening strategic partnership between Russia and the PRC and their mutually-reinforcing attempts to undercut and reshape the rules-based international order are a cause for profound concern," said the Washington Summit Declaration. "We are confronted by hybrid, cyber, space and other threats and malicious activities from state and non-state actors," said the declaration issued by the heads of state and government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) here during which it welcomed Sweden as its 32nd member country. The historic accession of Finland and Sweden makes them safer and the alliance stronger, including in the High North and the Baltic Sea, it ...

In their most serious rebuke against Beijing, NATO allies on Wednesday called China a "decisive enabler" of Russia's war against Ukraine and expressed concerns over China's nuclear arsenal and its capabilities in space. The sternly-worded final communiqu, approved by the 32 NATO members at their summit in Washington, makes clear that China is becoming a focus of the military alliance. The European and North American members and their partners in the Indo-Pacific increasingly see shared security concerns coming from Russia and its Asian supporters, especially China. Beijing has denied that it supports Russia's war efforts and insists that it conducts normal trade with its northern neighbour. In the communiqu, NATO member countries said China has become a war enabler through its "no-limits partnership" with Russia and its large-scale support for Russia's defence industrial base. "This increases the threat Russia poses to its neighbours and to Euro-Atlantic security. We call on the PR

Newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is making his maiden appearance on the international stage with a strong signal of support for Ukraine as he attends the NATO summit in Washington. After he and other European leaders met American lawmakers, Starmer sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday. They embraced and leaned in close, smiling, before holding private talks. Afterward, he reaffirmed Britain's full-throated backing for Kyiv as it battles Russia's invasion. Starmer said he and his new Labour government would use our opportunity here with our allies to make sure that that support is agreed by NATO's members. As he arrived for the summit, Starmer added that it was also important for him to "reinforce, in a sense as a message to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, the resolve of NATO bigger now than it's ever been, more united than it's ever been and absolutely clear-eyed about the threat of Russian aggression. Starmer will also meet one o