VILNIUS. The first day of the NATO summit in Vilnius opens with the Turkish go-ahead which arrived late Monday evening for Sweden’s entry into the Alliance at the height of an intense pressure that was exerted on Erdogan on several levels. The US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, in a briefing with journalists recalled the whirlwind of phone calls that has characterized the last few hours on the Washington-Ankara axis, with himself and Secretary of State Blinken listening to the Turkish counterpart , until the call Sunday evening from Air Force One between Erdogan and Biden. A very detailed and in-depth interview, summarized Sullivan, who explained that now with the imminent entry of Sweden and the past one of Finland, NATO is even stronger on a political and military level and those cracks that Putin imagined creating 18 months ago did not happen.
Biden, Sullivan explained, will now also go ahead with the transfer of F16 jets to Turkey. Consultations with Congress – one of which is present in Vilnius – are ongoing. And there are no limits or conditions placed on the F16 issue. Among other things, Biden had opened the transfer of aircraft well before the game of Swedish accession to NATO was opened. Turkey asked in October 2021 to buy the F16s and to modernize 80 aircraft of its fleet for a sum of 20 billion dollars.
Tomorrow there will instead be the NATO-Ukraine Council, the first meeting of the newborn body which will be chaired by Zelensky. The arrival of the Ukrainian president in Lithuania offers the opportunity for several bilateral talks. Biden will meet the Ukrainian president. In Kiev, Sullivan explained, NATO “will send positive signals and unity” as regards the Alliance’s accession path. But there will be no formal invitation here. However, what the senior US official highlighted is that the final communiqué will offer “many positive points” for Zelensky. Without going into detail, it is probable that the route for entry will be shown to you even if Sullivan has not wanted or been able to offer any calendar on the next stages. What remains a red line for Washington is that as long as hostilities on the ground exist, Kiev’s entry into NATO cannot take place, otherwise the risk of involving the Alliance in the war against Russia would become too high.
New announcements on arms and aid packages for Ukraine are also expected. Biden will talk about it with Zelensky and the strategy moves on two tracks: short-term support and long-term commitment. Sullivan has also weakened the contrasting elements linked to the supply of cluster bombs to Kiev. He underlined that the allies have different positions and not all adhere to the 2008 Convention. But the issue “doesn’t undermine unity, there are only different opinions”. He then reiterated that the US decision to resort to cluster bombs is the result of the thinning of the ammunition available for Kiev. “Not only to lead the counteroffensive but also to hold positions,” underlined Biden’s adviser who, answering a question about how long the cluster bomb will be used to fill the gap while awaiting the arrival of other bombs spoke “of months, not weeks”.
Another element that will enter the discussion agenda in these two days will be military spending and the new NATO model of force. As for expenditure, Sullivan specified that investments in defense are fundamental and that the threshold of 2% of GDP (set in 2014 in Wales) must “be the basis and not the ceiling” of military spending. In short, Washington expects all countries to be able to raise the bar even if, according to The printa deadline for the increase in expenses is not indicated in the final communiqué.
Tomorrow evening Biden will give a speech at Vilnius University in which he will reiterate how America has revitalized alliances in recent months.