What’s inside NATO’s Washington summit declaration: fresh aid to Ukraine, a vague bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO, a missile strike on Okhmatdyt, threats posed by Russia and China. The first F-16 fighter jets will get to Ukraine by the end of summer, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister says. A Russian drone strike hits a humanitarian aid point in Kherson region, injuring volunteers.
What’s inside NATO’s Washington summit declaration: fresh aid to Ukraine, bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO, missile strike on Okhmatdyt, threats posed by Russia and China
In NATO’s official Washington summit declaration, released on Wednesday, the 32 NATO leaders made a joint commitment to spend at least EUR 40 billion (USD 43 billion) in 2025 on aid to Ukraine and said the country is on an “irreversible path” to NATO membership.
The declaration consists of 38 articles and has an additional clause titled the “Pledge of Long-Term Security Assistance for Ukraine.”
“We fully support Ukraine’s right to choose its own security arrangements and decide its own future, free from outside interference. Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” the declaration says.
“We welcome the concrete progress Ukraine has made since the Vilnius Summit on its required democratic, economic, and security reforms. As Ukraine continues this vital work, we will continue to support it on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership. We reaffirm that we will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree and conditions are met,” the document reads.
Allies said the summit decisions by NATO and the NATO-Ukraine Council, combined with Allies’ ongoing work, “constitute a bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO.”
“Allies will continue to support Ukraine’s progress on interoperability as well as additional democratic and security sector reforms, which NATO Foreign Ministers will continue to assess through the adapted Annual National Program,” the declaration stated.
NATO allies decided to establish the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) to coordinate the provision of military equipment and training for Ukraine by Allies and partners. Its aim is to place security assistance to Ukraine on an enduring footing, ensuring enhanced, predictable, and coherent support. NSATU will not, under international law, make NATO a party to the conflict. It will support the transformation of Ukraine’s defense and security forces, enabling its further integration with NATO.
Ahead of the summit, media reports said the NSATU mission will be based at a U.S. military facility in Wiesbaden, Germany. Because it will be under NATO’s auspices, it is designed to function even if Donald Trump, a sharp critic of the alliance and of aid to Ukraine, wins the U.S. presidency in November.
The allies “announced a Pledge of Long-Term Security Assistance for Ukraine for the provision of military equipment, assistance, and training to support Ukraine in building a force capable of defeating Russian aggression. Through proportional contributions, Allies intend to provide a minimum baseline funding of EUR 40 billion within the next year, and to provide sustainable levels of security assistance for Ukraine to prevail.” The bilateral security agreements which allies concluded with Ukraine will count toward the allies’ contributions.
NATO will take forward the establishment of the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training, and Education Centre (JATEC), an important pillar of practical cooperation, to identify and apply lessons from Russia’s war against Ukraine and increase Ukraine’s interoperability with NATO.
The allies said they welcomed the Secretary General’s decision to appoint a NATO Senior Representative in Ukraine.
Heads of the State and Government will re-evaluate Allied contributions at future NATO summits, starting at the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague.
Allies’ commitment “extends to costs related to the provision of military equipment, assistance, and training for Ukraine, including: purchase of military equipment for Ukraine; in-kind support donated to Ukraine; costs related to maintenance, logistics and transportation of military equipment for Ukraine; costs for military training for Ukraine; operational costs associated with provision of military support to Ukraine; investments in and support for Ukraine’s defense infrastructure and defense industry; all contributions to NATO Trust Funds for Ukraine, including non-lethal aid.”
NATO condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia’s horrific attacks on the Ukrainian people, including on hospitals, on July 8 [when a Russian missile attack destroyed parts of the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital and damaged the Adonis clinic in Kyiv].
“There can be no impunity for Russian forces’ and officials’ abuses and violations of human rights, war crimes, and other violations of international law. Russia is responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians and has caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure,” the declaration states.
“We will never recognize Russia’s illegal annexations of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea. We also call on Russia to withdraw all of its forces from the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, stationed there without their consent,” it continues.
“Russia seeks to fundamentally reconfigure the Euro-Atlantic security architecture. The all-domain threat Russia poses to NATO will persist into the long term. Russia is rebuilding and expanding its military capabilities, and continues its airspace violations and provocative activities,” the text reads.
NATO said it condemns Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and coercive nuclear signaling, including its announced stationing of nuclear weapons in Belarus, which demonstrate a posture of strategic intimidation. Russia has increased its reliance on nuclear weapon systems and continued to diversify its nuclear forces, including by developing novel nuclear systems and deploying short and intermediate range dual-capable strike capabilities, all of which poses a growing threat to the Alliance.
“Russia has violated, selectively implemented, and walked away from longstanding arms control obligations and commitments, thereby undermining the global arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation architecture. We oppose any placement of nuclear weapons in orbit around Earth, which would violate Article IV of the Outer Space Treaty, and would gravely threaten global security,” the allies said.
NATO said it was “profoundly concerned” by the reported use of chemical weapons by Russia against Ukrainian forces.
Russia has also intensified its aggressive hybrid actions against Allies, including through proxies, in a campaign across the Euro-Atlantic area. These include sabotage, acts of violence, provocations at Allied borders, instrumentalization of irregular migration, malicious cyber activities, electronic interference, disinformation campaigns and malign political influence, as well as economic coercion. These actions constitute a threat to Allied security. We have decided on further measures to counter Russian hybrid threats or actions individually and collectively, and will continue to coordinate closely, according to the declaration.
Allies said they were determined to constrain and contest Russia’s aggressive actions and to counter its ability to conduct destabilizing activities towards NATO and Allies. For our next Summit, we will develop recommendations on NATO’s strategic approach to Russia, taking into account the changing security environment.
First F-16 fighter jets to get to Ukraine by end of summer, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister says
The first batch of F-16 fighter jets will be flying in the skies of Ukraine this summer, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba told Channel 24 on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington on Thursday.
Allies have determined details about delivery of the first jets, he added.
“We promised that F-16s will be flying over Ukrainian skies this summer, and this promise is fulfilled,” Kuleba said.
This will just be “the first wave” of jets, since Ukraine needs more of them, he added.
After a coalition of countries committed to deliver F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine last summer, a host of nations banded together to provide pilot training.
According to earlier reports, the deliveries were planned to start in the first half of the year.
Russian drone strike hits humanitarian aid point in Kherson region
A Russian FPV drone strike on a humanitarian aid point in Stanislav, in Kherson region, injured two people on Thursday. Female volunteers ages 40 and 45 suffered blast and traumatic brain injuries, the Kherson regional military administration said. They were treated on the spot.
Challenges of evacuating detention centers near the front line. Ukraine in Flames #636
The rapid advance of Russian forces into Ukraine after the 2022 invasion meant that 11 prisons in the South and East (Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk regions) holding 3,103 prisoners were not evacuated, leaving staff and prisoners under Russian occupation. Initially, Ukrainian authorities had no clear guidance on how prison staff and prisoners should respond to the invasion and occupation, especially during shelling. Later, in the spring and summer of 2022, Ukrainian authorities evacuated at least 13 prisons near active combat zones. Watch Ukraine in Flames #636 to find out about how the evacuation from places of detention near the front line is taking place, the current situation regarding these places, and an assessment of their level of risk.
Guests:
- Olena Prashko, Project manager of the NGO “Ukraine without torture”, Head of the department for observing human rights in the provision of psychiatric care
- Olena Demchenko, human rights defender
- Hanna Skrypka, Lawyer of the NGO “Protection of Prisoners of Ukraine”