NATO members agree on regional defence plans against Russian attack – Reuters

NATO member states on Monday overrode a Turkish veto and agreed on regional plans detailing how the Alliance would respond to a potential Russian attack.

Source: Reuters referring to three diplomats, reported by European Pravda

Details: For decades, NATO had not seen the need for large-scale defence plans because it fought small wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and believed that post-Soviet Russia did not pose an existential threat to the Alliance.

But Russia's war against Ukraine has made NATO realise that it needs to have defence plans in place long before a conflict with an opponent like Moscow could break out.

Türkiye has blocked the approval of the Alliance's plans because of wording regarding geographical locations such as Cyprus. Apparently, Türkiye’s blockade has been overridden.

By outlining its regional plans, NATO will provide countries with recommendations on how to modernise their armed forces and logistics.

The need to fund these fundamental changes is one of the reasons why leaders of NATO member states intend to raise the military spending target in Vilnius, making the current goal of 2% of national GDP a minimum requirement.

NATO officials estimate that these plans will take several years to fully implement, although they stress that the Alliance can go into action immediately if necessary.

Background: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the NATO summit in Vilnius would adopt three new regional defence plans to counter two major threats to the Alliance: Russia and terrorism.

To implement these plans, NATO is putting 300,000 troops on high alert, including significant air and naval forces, as Stoltenberg said.

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