NATO leaders pose for a group photo ahead of the NATO Summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2022. Photo: AFP

NATO's stance

The NATO summit’s joint statement said NATO remains united and resolute in its determination to oppose Russia’s operation, aid the government and people of Ukraine, and defend the security of all NATO allies. The NATO leaders agreed to create four more battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, raising the total number of NATO multinational reserves, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, to eight groups. 100,000 US troops will be deployed with the European troops. NATO extended the term of its Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg one more year until September 30, 2023.

According to Stoltenberg, NATO has activated its “chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense elements” to increase defense capabilities on the Eastern flank. Simultaneously, the allies are strengthening their own deployments of nuclear, biological, and chemical defenses to augment existing and new combat groups. Stoltenberg said NATO will also send more aircraft and strengthen integrated surface-to-air defense capabilities on the Eastern flank. A large number of warships and submarines will be ready at all times.

NATO members agreed to impose more sanctions on Russia and expand aid for Ukraine by providing Kyiv with significant military equipment, including air defense systems, drones, and air defense anti-tank systems, along with substantial financial support.

The NATO joint statement voiced determination to strengthen its individual and collective capacity to resist all forms of attack. NATO will not deploy forces in Ukraine, but has a responsibility to ensure that the conflict does not escalate beyond Ukraine, and become a conflict between NATO and Russia, NATO chief Stoltenberg said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Smoke rising from a combat zone in Ukraine seen from a satellite. Photo: Maxar.

Humanitarian activities in Ukraine

One month after Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine, some progress has been made in negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv, although an agreement to end the fighting has not yet been reached. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is no longer pressing for Ukraine to become a NATO member and is ready to "compromise" on the status of the two breakaway territories of Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized as independent just before launching the special military operation on February 24.

Russia and Ukraine agreed to establish seven humanitarian corridors through which some 300,000 civilians have been evacuated from combat zones. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 3.6 million Ukrainians have left their homes to seek refuge in neighboring countries. The EU is now taking in more refugees than in 2015 and 2016, when the Syria conflict triggered massive flows of migrants from the Middle East and Africa to Europe. Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia, the four EU countries bordering Ukraine, have received the largest number of Ukrainian refugees. According to the EU Home Affairs Commissioner, all Ukrainian refugees are allowed to cross the borders of EU members. The EU will allow displaced Ukrainians to work, send their children to school, receive housing assistance, and enjoy social welfare as quickly as possible.

Now that both Russia and Ukraine have expressed a readiness to negotiate and NATO and the US have ruled out sending their troops to Ukraine, there’s hope that the conflict will not slip into a more dangerous spiral.