Vilnius summit: focus on the Ukraine-Russia issue

Vilnius summit: focus on the Ukraine-Russia issue

The Vice President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Antonio Tajani, it will be today and tomorrow, 11 and 12 July 2023, a Vilnius (Lithuania) together with the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and to the Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto to take part in the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Atlantic Alliance.

The NATO Summit in Vilnius is an important moment of political reaffirmation of allied unity and verification of the progress made in implementing the commitments made at the 2022 Madrid Summit.

Particular focus will be on Strengthening the deterrence and defense posture in Allied territory as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The Deputy Prime Minister Tajani will take part in the informal meeting of the Atlantic Council of Foreign Ministers of the Alliance, chaired by NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana, and in which the Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova, and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy will also take part and Security Borrell.
The meeting of Foreign Ministers will serve first of all to reiterate Italy's continued support for these countries and to illustrate the repercussions of the Russian war against Ukraine on their security and stability.

The meeting will also allow us to take stock of the implementation of the practical support agreed at the Madrid Summit, and to discuss the next operational steps.

“It is a particularly timely meeting, because it goes in the direction of strengthening our practical support to the partners most affected by Russian threats and interference” commented the Deputy Prime Minister Tajani.

About the war in Ukraine, he added that “It is having global repercussions throughout the Euro-Atlantic region, including our southern flank. The political and economic stability of North Africa, the Middle East and the Sahel is seriously compromised by growing food instability, the resurgence of terrorism, irregular migratory flows, the impact of climate change and, last but not least, influenza negative of external powers".

In reference to the Russian-Ukrainian question, a hot focus will also be that linked to the possible membership of Ukraine to NATO itself, a topic which, especially recently, has been supported by the Ukrainian president according to whom Vilnius can be ideal theater for discussing the project.

The leader of Kiev, ready for a summit in Turkey with Erdogan before the meeting in the Lithuanian capital, counts a lot on the issue linked to Ukraine's membership of NATO, so much so that in his speeches he underlined the “indecisions” of the Alliance on Ukraine and Sweden, comparing them to one “global threat”.

Stoltenberg, for his part, explained that he expects that, in Vilnius, the Alliance will be able to reach an agreement on the fact that Ukraine can become "a member of NATO", but after the end of the conflict with Moscow. Not least, according to the NATO secretary, two other issues will be at the center of the debate. The first linked to an agreement relating to a “multi-year assistance programme” with the concrete objective of ensuring in Kiev "full interoperability between the Ukrainian armed forces and NATO".

The second, then, related to the birth of a "advise" precisely between NATO and Ukraine which allows to strengthen political relations in order to implement military cooperation. A further aspect, therefore, will be specifically focused on the topic of NATO's orientation regarding the American choice to supply Kiev with cluster bombs. According to what Stoltenberg reported, to date there is no position that everyone has in common and each country can evaluate the issue independently. The Alliance, however, is not against cluster bombs and not all member countries have approved the Oslo Convention which proposes a ban on this type of weapon.

Another "hot" topic at the center of the Lithuanian summit will be that concerning Sweden's membership of NATO. Turkey, before Erdogan's green light announced by Stoltenberg, had supported not wanting to approve the entry of the Scandinavian state into the Alliance, accusing Stockholm of not wanting to hand over some suspected PKK "terrorists". For this reason, on the sidelines of the summit, Biden and Erdogan will be protagonists of a bilateral meeting: the focal point is Turkey's approval of Swedish membership.

“Let us first pave the way for Turkey into the EU and then we will pave the way for Sweden, just like we did with Finland.” These words Erdogan shortly before boarding the flight to Vilnius, thus making Ankara's ratification of Sweden's entry into the Alliance conditional on Turkey's openness to EU membership.

The Turkish president, who met with Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson, pointed out that “progress in Sweden's NATO membership process depends on the application of the principles included in the trilateral memorandum”, referring to the agreement between Ankara, Stockholm and Helsinki on the eve of the NATO summit in June 2022 for the membership of Sweden and Finland in the Alliance itself.

Then during the day there was a turning point. “I am happy to announce that President Erdogan has agreed to allow Sweden to join NATO as soon as possible.” Thus Stoltenberg at the end of the trilateral meeting with the leaders of Sweden and Türkiye. 

The discussions will then also focus on relations with China. And this is one of the reasons why the leaders of allied but external countries will be present at the summit. Among the topics at the center of the meetings are Beijing's positions regarding what is happening in the South and East China Sea. China, through the words of the Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, has already reported to the Alliance of "focus on how to play a constructive role for the peace and stability of Europe and the world", rather than "exalting the issue" related to China.