Sputnik is live from Brussels, where the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit of Allied leaders is being held, with presidents and prime ministers from 30 member countries arriving to participate in the event chaired by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
This is the first such meeting since the beginning of the global coronavirus pandemic. The so-called NATO 2030 strategic concept is expected to be the main issue on the agenda.
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BERLIN (Sputnik) - NATO will revise its strategic concept to balance efforts to contain Russia with dialogue because Moscow continues to see the Western military alliance as an opponent, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after a summit on Monday.
"This new security posture has to do, on the one hand, with Russia, which sees NATO not as a partner… but as an opponent — and this is unfortunately more than 30 years after the end of the Cold War", she told a news conference.
NATO leaders agreed during the summit in Brussels to work out a new strategic concept that will guide its approach to Russia, China and emerging threats and challenges. It will be prepared for adoption at the next summit in Spain in 2022.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said ahead of a NATO summit on Monday that he was concerned that Belarus was about to lose the last elements of its independence.
"Belarus is losing the last elements of its independence, and those tendencies, those trends, are very dangerous and we have to be aware of them", he said in a doorstop statement in Brussels.
Belarus will be high on the summit's agenda. Members of the Western military alliance shut their airspace to Belarusian airlines in May after a Ryanair passenger plane was diverted to Minsk over a bomb scare. An opposition journalist was arrested after disembarking for helping to run a Telegram channel that was deemed extremist by Belarus.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on Monday for a greater unity among NATO member states in addressing issues of common significance, including the geopolitical "realignment" across the world.
"It has been an interesting past few years but we gather now at a moment where we are more united than ever and it is more important than ever that we be united", Trudeau said in a televised conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The prime minister added that COVID-19 and climate change were major issues for NATO, along with the "realignment around the world in geopolitics," which, he noted, "should be of concern to everyone."
The bilateral meeting took place ahead of the NATO summit in Brussels, expected to focus on current pressing issues on the international agenda and the alliance's agenda for the coming decade.
BERLIN, (Sputnik) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ahead of a NATO summit on Monday that she supported plans of the Western military alliance to draw up guidelines for addressing new challenges.
"I support the plan to work out a new strategic concept that will clearly outline challenges and NATO responses and that will be adopted in 2022", she said in a doorstep statement in Brussels.
Merkel said that NATO member states, including Germany, were increasingly faced with hybrid warfare threats, cyberattacks, and what she described as a Russian disinformation campaign.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday noted the importance of the NATO summit underway in Brussels, describing it as an opportunity for the military bloc to reassert the importance of Transatlantic alliance.
"It's great to be here at NATO in Brussels for a very important summit. This is obviously the first NATO summit for the new US president, Joe Biden, a chance to reconfirm the importance of the transatlantic alliance, which I know the president believes very strongly in", Johnson said in a doorstop statement ahead of the event.
Last week, Biden and Johnson held a meeting ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall, where they vowed to further strengthen bilateral defense efforts.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden on Monday affirmed the country's commitment to its collective defence obligation within NATO framework, describing it as "sacred".
"I believe, and I've said this my whole career ... that Article 5 we take as a sacred obligation", Biden said during a conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the military alliance's summit in Brussels.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - There has been a growing recognition in recent years that NATO is facing new challenges, including Russia and China, US President Joe Biden said on Monday.
"There is a growing recognition over the last couple of years that we have new challenges, and we have Russia that is not acting in a way that is consistent with what we had hoped, as well as China", Biden said during a conversation with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the military alliance's summit in Brussels.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said ahead of a NATO summit on Monday that the military alliance needed to balance dialogue and pressure when dealing with Russia.
"Of course, we are concerned about Russia. With Russia we need the pressure, but also with Russia we need dialogue. Also between NATO and Russia we need dialogue. But of course, we should not be naive on Russia at all, there is real cause for concern", Rutte said in a doorstop statement in Brussels.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said that he had a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ahead of the NATO summit in Brussels.
Last week, the French leader mentioned planning to discuss with Erdogan the situation in Syria, Libya and the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh inside Azerbaijan, as well as rules of conduct between the allies.
"Prior to the NATO summit, I had a long conversation with President Erdogan. In order to move forward with clarity, respect and exigency", Macron tweeted.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Monday hailed the country's maiden participation in the NATO leaders' summit as a full-fledged 30th member of the alliance.
"This is a historical moment for my country. This is the first NATO summit for North Macedonia as a full member. It is also the first summit for NATO with 30 member countries. This is a great success for both North Macedonia and NATO", Zaev said attending the event in Brussels.
North Macedonia officially joined the alliance in March 2020.
"When it comes to China, I don't think anybody around the table wants to descend into a new Cold War with China. But I think people see challenges, they see things that we have to manage together, but they also see opportunities", UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
Addressing the issue of NATO's "disappointing" relations with Russia, the UK prime minister expressed hope they would eventually improve.
"I'm always hopeful that things will improve with Russia but I'm afraid that, so far, it's been pretty disappointing from the UK point of view", Johnson said in a doorstop statement ahead of a NATO summit in Brussels.
He went on to say that US President Joe Biden would send "some pretty tough messages" to Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the coming days when the two meet in Switzerland's Geneva.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - NATO member states are expected to present a "clear position" on China in a final statement following the Monday summit, but the alliance does not consider Beijing to be its adversary, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.
"We are not entering a new Cold War and China is not our adversary, not our enemy, but we need to address together as an alliance the challenges that the rise of China poses to our security," Stoltenberg said in a doorstep statement.
"I also expect allies to agree language in the communique, and you have to remember that 18 months that was the first time NATO had language on China at all. In our current strategic concept, China is not mentioned by word. At the summit in London in 2019, we had one sentence addressing China. This time it will be a clear position, a united position by allies on China", he added.
BRUSSELS (Sputnik) - The authorities in Brussels have put in place additional restrictions and security measures that will likely cause a lot of inconvenience to local residents as the heads of NATO member states will gather in the Belgian capital for a summit on Monday.
Most measures pertain to the safety and comfort of US President Joe Biden, who arrived in the Belgian capital on Sunday evening, accompanied by a huge delegation of about 700 people. Since he was accommodated at the US embassy in the centre of Brussels, the city police blocked the traffic in the entire neighbourhood adjacent to the diplomatic mission.
The city authorities barred residents who live in houses that the US leader's cortege will be passing by during the visit from taking the garbage outside. People were warned that internet and mobile services can be down at the time of Biden's passage and that all cars and other means of transport parked at the roadside will be evacuated.
Given that the route of the US leader is kept in the strictest confidence, the police recommend that Brussels residents completely abandon private cars and switch to public transport during the visit, as the authorities simply cannot guarantee free travel around the city these days.
Additionally, the Belgian Ministry of Internal Affairs asked the Ministry of Defense to allocate several hundred military personnel to ensure the safety of the high-ranking guests.
