Tag Archives: NATO

The Czech Republic will buy 24 US-made F-35 fighter jets, Prime Minister Petr Fiala told reporters on Wednesday. “The first F-35s will be ready in 2029 and our pilots will start training with them in the United States then,” Fiala said. He added that the first supersonic jets would arrive …

Hungary is not in a hurry to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told parliament on Monday, flagging a further delay in a process that has been stranded in parliament since July 2022. “I wonder if there is something urgent that would force us to ratify Sweden’s NATO …

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York that his “main task” this week is to mobilize more support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. “If the United States is concerned about China and wants to pivot towards Asia, then …

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday called on allies to supply more air-defense systems and ammunition to Ukraine, to back the country’s counteroffensive against Russia. “Air defense will continue to be Ukraine’s greatest need to protect the skies, its civilians, and its cities,” he told reporters at the end …

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday urged Berlin to supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles during a surprise visit to Kyiv by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. She promised unwavering support and praised Ukraine’s progress towards EU membership, but Kuleba said Germany should speed up a decision on missile deliveries. …

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday Ukraine was finding it harder and slower to secure sanctions on Russia and weapon supplies to help fend off Moscow’s forces. Speaking at a conference in the Ukrainian capital, he said Ukraine’s three-month-old counteroffensive would make faster gains in the south and east if …

The United States on Thursday announced a new $600 million security assistance package for Ukraine that includes demolition munitions and mine-clearing equipment as well as artillery ammunition. The aid will not immediately arrive on the battlefield, as it falls under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), under which Washington procures …

Ukrainian officials say the death toll from, what they said, Russian missile strikes on the central city of Kryvyi Rig, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky, has risen to six. Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of Kryvyi Rig’s military administration, claimed on Tuesday that six missiles had hit five civilian sites …

The Armed Forces of Ukraine incurred the losses as it pushed against Russian defenses, the military has claimed. Ukrainian forces have lost up to 1,240 troops and 39 tanks during one 24-hour period, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported in its latest daily update on Friday. This adds to the …

Russia launched the biggest drone strike on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv a day after Ukraine struck oil pipeline installations and other targets deep inside Russia with a series of drone attacks. Serhiy Popko, the head of the Ukrainian military said in a statement on Sunday that the assault was …

Hundreds of protesters in the capitals of Italy and Spain have waged rallies to demand higher wages as well as a halt to the shipment of weapons to Ukraine. While calling for peace in the Ukraine conflict, the Italian protesters on Friday further demanded from the ruling right-wing government in …

Poland is in advanced talks to buy Swedish early warning planes and hopes negotiations will be finalized shortly, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Monday. Poland has ramped up military spending since Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February last year, with the government pledging to double the size …

The Prime Minister of Iraq, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, emphasized to the new commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) mission in Iraq, the need to continue developing the performance and capabilities of the Iraqi security forces. This came during his reception of the new commander of the NATO mission …

Western countries ‘are still adhering to the escalation scenario’ that risks widening the Ukraine war in Europe, says deputy foreign minister. Western countries will be running “colossal risks” if they supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, a Russian official says. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko was responding to a …

Russian legislators have voted to formally pull out of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), which aims at limiting key categories of conventional military equipment in the continent. The treaty was signed in 1990 by the US-led NATO and Warsaw Pact countries, comprising the Soviet Union and …

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday that Ukrainian aircraft had struck two industrial sites in the Russian-held city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles supplied by Britain. Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports. Britain on Thursday became the first country to say it had …

Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad S. al-Sudani held talks on Tuesday with Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, discussing ways to strengthen cooperation between the two countries. According to a statement released by Al-Sudani’s media office, the meeting covered a range of issues related to progress in relations and cooperation in various …

The Czech government on Wednesday approved a defense cooperation deal with the United States in a bid to boost its security as Russia’s war with Ukraine continues. The agreement facilitates a potential deployment of US troops to the Czech Republic, a NATO member since 1999, said Defense Minister Jana Cernochova. …

Global military spending grew for the eighth consecutive year in 2022 to a record $2.24 trillion, with a sharp increase in Europe, mainly due to Russian and Ukrainian spending, a Swedish think tank said on Monday. Spending globally increased by 3.7% in real terms, but military spending in Europe increased …

The White House is “annoyed” by French President Emmanuel Macron’s unilateral attempt to initiate diplomatic negotiations on the Russia-Ukraine conflict with mediation by China, sources have told Bloomberg. According to people familiar with the US government’s thinking on the issue, the recent move by the French leader “hasn’t gone down …