BRUSSELS: NATO Ministers for Defence failed on Friday to reach deal over new plans on how the military alliance would reply to a Russian assault, and one diplomat blamed Ankara for blocking them.
NATO-Moscow
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the NATO Ministers discussed the plans – the first since the end of the Cold War and given motivation by Moscow’s invasion of Kyiv – at a two-day meeting in Brussels and were moving too much closer to agreeing on these plans.
But one NATO envoy said Ankara had stopped approval over the wording of locations, including with context to Cyprus.
The diplomat hoped that there was still a chance to find a solution before the NATO summit in mid-July in Vilnius.
Turkey’s diplomatic mission to the military alliance said it would be wrong to issue statement over a secret NATO document.
The regional plans comprise over secret military plans that will detail how the NATO would respond to a Russian assault.
The drawing up of the plans signifies a key shift. NATO will also give countries guidance on how to further upgrade their troops and logistics.
A senior US official told Reuters, “While regional plans were not officially endorsed in today’s meeting, we expect these plans will be part of a series of deliverables for the Vilnius Summit in July,”.
