More than 50 countries will gather on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss bolstering Ukraine’s air defense, two days after Russian missiles rained down on cities across the country, including the capital Kyiv.
The gathering in Brussels is the first big NATO meeting since Moscow annexed several Ukrainian territories, announced a mobilization, and issued veiled nuclear threats – moves that the alliance has classified as a clear escalation of the war that started with the invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24.
Attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines running under the Baltic Sea have contributed to heightening the tensions, although it remains unclear who was behind the explosions.
On Wednesday, Polish operator PERN said it had detected a leak in one pipeline in the Druzhba system that carries oil from Russia to Europe, though it said the cause was probably an accident.
NATO warned Moscow that it would meet attacks on allies’ critical infrastructure with a “united and determined response”.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg pledged to boost the protection of critical infrastructure, saying NATO had already doubled its presence in the Baltic and North Seas to more than 30 ships supported by aircraft and undersea activities.
Speaking ahead of a two-day meeting of the alliance’s defense ministers, Stoltenberg said that while the alliance had not seen any changes in Russia’s nuclear posture, it was vigilant and would proceed with its annual nuclear preparedness exercise next week.
He was referring to the “Steadfast Noon” exercise, in which NATO air forces practice the use of U.S. nuclear bombs based in Europe with training flights, without live weapons.
By REUTERS