On Wednesday, President Biden met with leaders of the NATO nations known as the Bucharest 9 (B9), who are the first line of defense against Russia on the eastern front. The meeting reaffirmed NATO’s commitment to Article 5, which obliges all member countries to come to the aid of another member whose sovereignty or territorial integrity is under threat.
Article 5 of NATO’s Washington Treaty, known as “the principle of collective defense,” obliges all member countries to come to the aid of another member whose sovereignty or territorial integrity is under threat.
Biden emphasized that Nato Article 5 is a sacred commitment that the United States has made, and every inch of NATO will be defended against any attack. However, Ukraine is not a NATO member country, even though it has contributed to NATO operations and missions in the past.
The war in Ukraine has raised concerns about the threat to European security and whether the conflict could spill over into NATO territory.
Ukraine has applied to become a member of NATO, which would serve as a deterrent against future Russian aggression, but the NATO charter stipulates that no nation can be considered or accepted as a member while it is engaged in conflict.
Putin has claimed that he launched his “special military operation” into Ukraine over the threat that Kyiv and NATO posed in expanding the alliance, which Western officials have rejected.
Biden’s commitment to NATO and Ukraine was echoed by Romania President Klaus Iohannis, who helped establish the B9 in 2015 in the wake of Russia’s aggression in Eastern Europe following the 2014 invasion of Ukraine and subsequent illegal annexation of Crimea.
The meeting of the NATO leaders came as the war nears the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is concerned that Moscow is now turning to China for lethal aid.
Security officials are greatly concerned by the threat China’s participation in the war would bring as it would not only change the dynamic on the battlefield in Ukraine but would force European nations to cut economic ties and further strain relations between China and the West.
This geopolitical divide between democracies and autocracies would create its challenges, particularly as it relates to security concerns over Taiwan.
NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg has said it is Ukraine’s right to seek membership and has refused Russian attempts to blackball Kyiv from being able to join the alliance.
However, he warned that the Russian pattern of aggression over many years must be stopped, and history must not repeat itself. “We cannot allow Russia to continue to chip away at European security,” he added.
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