The NATO Summit in Wales will be one of the most important Summits in the history of the Alliance, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at the beginning of it.
“A crucial Summit at a crucial time. We are faced with a dramatically changed security environment. To the East, Russia is attacking Ukraine. To the Southeast, we see the rise of a terrorist organization, the so-called Islamic State, that has committed horrific attrocities. To the South, we see violence, insecurity, instability. Here at the Summit we will take important steps to counter these threats and to strengthen the defence of our allies,” he said.
This Summit will shape future NATO, its Secretary General warns.
Answering a Ukrainian journalist’s question on Putin’s peace plan Anders Fogh Rasmussen stressed NATO welcomes all efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Ukraine. “But we are still witnessing unfortunately Russian involvement in destabilising the situation in eastern Ukraine. So we continue to call on Russia to pull back its troops from Ukrainian borders,” he admits.
As regards the cooperation with Ukraine, NATO officials are expected to have a meeting with President Petro Poroshenko today, adopt a joint declaration and outline concrete steps to enhance Ukraine-NATO partnership.
