Five challenges facing Nato at Madrid summit

Baltic states, Poland and eastern Europe plead for more alliance troops in shadow of Ukraine war

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  US President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference on the final day of the Nato summit in Madrid. AP

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  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a news conference. PA

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  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. AFP

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  French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the final day of the Nato summit. AP

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  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Joe Biden shake hands as Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson look on at a Nato summit in Madrid. Reuters

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  Heads of state of Nato member countries and their spouses pose for a group photo during a visit to the Prado Museum, in Madrid. AFP

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  French president Emmanuel Macron, right, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during the Prado Museum visit. AP

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  Mr Biden takes a selfie with Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela and his wife Lydia Abela as they visit the Prado Museum. AP

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  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the first lady of France, Brigitte Macron, right, and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo's wife Annik Penders have a conversation at the museum. AP

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  Spanish police stand in front of protesters during an anti-Nato demonstration near Tirso de Molina square in Madrid. AFP

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  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears on a giant screen as he delivers a statement at the start of the first plenary session of the Nato summit. AFP

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  World leaders pose for a photo during the summit. Reuters

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  US President Joe Biden, left, and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. AP

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  Maria Begona Gomez, wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the first Lady of Lithuania, Diana Nausediene, first lady of Malta, Lydia Abela, and Gauthier Destenay, the husband of Luxembourg's Prime Minister, before a visit to the royal site of San Idelfonso in Segovia. EPA

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  Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde pose for a picture after signing an agreement in Madrid. AP

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  King Felipe VI of Spain addresses leaders during a dinner at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Reuters

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  Mr Johnson meets Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. PA

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  Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a reception at the Royal Palace in Madrid. AP

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  Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia greet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, during a royal reception for heads of governments and states. EPA

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  King Felipe VI, left, Mr Sanchez, second left and Mr Macron before the dinner. AP

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  Nato leaders pose for a 'family photo' with King Felipe and Queen Letizia in Madrid. Reuters

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  Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, left, with Mr Biden and Mr Macron. EPA

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  Mr Biden, left, and King Felipe arrive for a meeting at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Reuters

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  Mr Johnson talks to journalists on his plane during a flight from Germany – where he was attending the G7 summit – to the Nato summit in the Spanish capital. PA

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  Mr Erdogan, second left, meets Mr Stoltenberg, Mr Niinisto of Finland and Ms Andersson of Sweden before the summit. Reuters

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  Mr Biden shakes hands with Prime Minister Sanchez of Spain at the Palace of Moncloa, in Madrid. AFP

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  Mr Erdogan, centre, arrives at the Torreon air base in Madrid. AP

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  Mr Sanchez, right, speaks with Mr Stoltenberg before the summit. EPA

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  US first lady Jill Biden, centre left, and Spain's Queen Letizia speak with a family during a visit to a reception centre for Ukrainian refugees in Madrid. AP

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  Spanish police patrol outside the Ifema convention centre before the Nato summit in Madrid. EPA

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  Mr Sanchez and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern hold the jerseys of their national football teams during a meeting at Moncloa Palace. EPA

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  Finland's President Niinisto speaks during a briefing in Madrid before the Nato summit. Reuters

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  Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media after arriving at Torrejon Airbase in Madrid. EPA

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  Spanish police officers control traffic on the Spain-France border in Irun. Reuters

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  Mr Stoltenberg speaks at a press conference to preview the Nato summit at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. AFP

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  Spanish police use sniffer dogs to check a podium at the Ifema centre in Madrid. EPA

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  US first lady Jill Biden waves on arrival at Torrejon air base in Madrid. Reuters

Flying into Madrid for a historic Nato summit, US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and 28 other leaders are prepared to announce significant new arms supplies to Ukraine and a host of far-reaching decisions to shape the future of the alliance.

Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato Secretary General, has promised a comprehensive package of hardware that will mean Ukraine goes through a “fundamental transition from Soviet-era equipment to Nato equipment”.

US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will attend the Nato summit in Madrid. Reuters

It is likely that the more hawkish countries will increase the numbers of long-range precision missiles and advanced artillery pieces that can match Russia’s immense formations.

Madrid may well involve Nato deciding to supply Ukraine with weapons that could push Russia out of the territory it has seized, roughly one fifth of the country. Advanced jet fighters, tanks, anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles could all be assigned.

Eastern flank

Soldiers training in Voru, Estonia. About 15,000 troops from 14 countries are taking part in one of the largest military exercises to take place in the Baltics. Getty Images

With President Vladimir Putin accused of crossing the red line of invading another country’s sovereign territory, far greater emphasis will be put on reinforcing those countries on the Russian frontier.

The Baltic states, Poland and other Eastern European countries have all been pleading for more Nato troops on the what is known as the eastern flank.

Currently, battle groups from Britain, the US, Germany and France are stationed as a tripwire force in case Russia invades. Mr Stoltenberg announced on Monday that the force available to Nato on high-readiness would be expanded to 400,000 personnel from about 40,000.

An MV-22 Osprey assault support aircraft prepares to land on the flight deck of the 'USS Kearsarge' during military exercises in the Baltic Sea. AFP

But there is a desire among some Nato members to boost these forces to brigade strength — about 10,000 troops each — with division headquarters, to deter Russia from any further invasions.

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said this month: “You don’t have 60 days to get your tanks to Estonia, because by that stage there will be no Estonia, given what the Russians have done in Ukraine."

Setting up headquarters would mean Nato countries commit advanced air defence systems, such as the Patriot, as well as more fighters and drones.

Other battle groups will be stationed in Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria, particularly to reinforce the south-eastern Black Sea flank.

Sweden and Finland

As a result of the Russian threat, Finland and Sweden last month formally applied to join the alliance after decades of studied neutrality.

It was hoped that the Madrid summit could be used as a big occasion to announce the addition of the Nordic countries, taking the alliance to 32 member states.

Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg shake hands at a joint press conference in Brussels. EPA

But Turkey’s objection to them joining, based on what Ankara says is support for Kurdish separatists, has held up the application.

It is hoped that talks between the three countries, set for Tuesday, will result in progress. This could be significantly helped by the Americans becoming involved, cajoling Ankara with diplomacy and the potential for advanced military hardware, such as the F35 fighter.

Strategic concept

At the culmination of talks on Thursday, Nato will announce its new strategic concept. The document will provide an assessment of the security challenges and the military tasks the defence alliance will undertake to address them.

It will ensure that Nato “adapts to a changing world and keep its one billion people safe”, the organisation said. “How has Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the new security reality in Europe affected Nato’s approach to deterrence and defence?”

Since the Cold War ended, the concept has been updated once every decade to ensure the alliance is prepared for any potential threat.

The concept will address the military role in space, as well as cyber warfare and climate change.

It will provide the blueprint for Nato in a world where “authoritarian powers try to push back against the rules-based international order”, leaders said.

China

The rising might of the Chinese military is still the greatest concern for the US and others. Before the Ukraine invasion, Britain and other European countries had signalled a “Pacific tilt” by sending warships to Asia and into the South China Sea.

Nato’s leaders will know that at some point the Ukraine conflict will end and China will potentially be even stronger and more closely aligned to Russia with growing influence via its 5G technology.

This is why the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand are all in Madrid to garner long-term support in relation to China's Pacific role.

Climate change

At the Cop26 conference in November, global rises in temperature were considered a serious issue for Nato. Rising sea levels and extreme weather events were creating territorial problems and immense pressure on food security.

Mr Stoltenberg raised the issue in several speeches, stating that armies needed to reform their hardware to make it more environmentally friendly. Electric-powered tanks were not discounted. Neither were with solar-powered divisional headquarters, which would cut energy costs and an over-reliance on Russia for energy supplies.

But Mr Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine has changed the dynamic and Western powers know they have to move into renewables rapidly, weaning themselves off Russian oil and gas. They will also realise that once the Ukraine war is over, climate change will present a security challenge that will last for decades.