Get ready for the NATO show in Washington

World leaders will gather in Washington next week for the annual NATO summit as the U.S.-led coalition backing Ukraine is about to face its most serious test yet.

This year’s summit The event will have two key themes: a celebration of the alliance’s 75th anniversary and a rallying cry for Ukraine aimed at pushing back the rise of far-right political forces in Europe and, potentially, the United States.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who leads the congressional delegation to the summit each year, will have a much larger cohort of lawmakers joining them at the gathering since it is taking place while both houses of Congress are in session.

The goal is to ensure that, whatever happens over the next six months, the United States’ commitment to Ukraine’s security – and its path to NATO membership – remains intact.

If former President Donald Trump After the November victories, Tillis told us, “It’s going to take people like me and others, the majority of our conference, saying we have to support Ukraine.”

At the G7 summit Last month, the president Joe Biden and the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky The United States signed a 10-year security agreement. Of course, any such agreement is only valid if Congress funds it and the president enforces it.

“We must “I’m laying the groundwork to say that fundamentally what Biden negotiated and committed to makes sense, but every president has the right to revisit and consider possible improvements and modifications,” Tillis added.

Ukraine in NATO? The joint communiqué issued after the summit is expected to reaffirm that Ukraine is on track for full NATO membership once certain conditions are met – including an end to the war.

At a recent meeting With senators in France for the D-Day anniversary, Zelensky acknowledged this reality, Shaheen said.

“As long as “The war is ongoing and unresolved, Ukraine will not be a member of NATO,” Shaheen said. “But it is essential that it has a path to membership, just as it is considering joining the EU.”

NATO membership Accession to the European Union requires the agreement of all member states. Thus, even if Ukraine were to eventually meet the conditions for membership, it would be enough for just one country to object, either to obtain concessions or to prevent Ukraine’s accession. Finland and Sweden know this very well.

Mike Turner, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (R-Ohio), who leads the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, told us he is particularly eager to leverage the contributions of these new members to the alliance.

“This next summit “This is already a success, because Sweden and Finland are going to join NATO as full members,” Turner said. “They bring not only very capable militaries, incredibly important geography, but also militaries that are already fully integrated into the Alliance.”

It’s not just Russia. The 2022 NATO summit in Madrid produced a joint statement that for the first time named China as an emerging threat to the West. And NATO leaders sought to emphasize the interdependence of Russian and Chinese aggression.

The leaders of Indo-Pacific countries have participated in NATO functions below the membership level, and they are expected to be in Washington for this year’s summit.

Many European nations We have recognized the threat posed by China, but there is still work to be done.

“It’s a “We need to continue to do our part to raise awareness, because even though European leaders are aware of it, Europeans are continuing to trade with China,” Shaheen said. “They are doing a number of things in that relationship that are not commensurate with the potential threat that is coming.”

—André Desiderio