Defeat in NATO. Turkey has been accused of blocking the alliance’s plans to retaliate against Russia’s attack

NATO defense ministers on Friday failed to agree on new plans for how the alliance would respond to a Russian attack, and a diplomat accused Turkey of blocking consensus, but there is still a chance of reaching a consensus at a summit in Vilnius, Reuters reported. .

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said ministers reviewed the plans at a two-day meeting in Brussels after the end of the Cold War triggered by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. The allies are getting closer to agreement on these plans, Stoltenberg said.

A diplomat said Turkey had blocked approval of the plans by objecting to geographical locations, including Cyprus.

There is still a chance to find a solution before the NATO summit in Vilnius in mid-July, the diplomat added.

Turkey’s diplomatic mission to NATO said it was wrong to comment on a classified NATO document, saying only that “the regular process of consultation and evaluation between NATO countries continues.”

The so-called regional plans contain thousands of pages of secret military plans detailing how the alliance would respond to a Russian attack.

The draft of these documents represents a fundamental change. For decades, NATO fought small wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and was convinced that post-Soviet Russia no longer posed an existential threat, so there was no need for large-scale defense plans. But with Ukraine’s bloodiest war since 1945 raging beyond its borders, the alliance is now warning that it must keep all plans in place for a potential clash with an equally ranked adversary like Moscow.

NATO will also provide guidance to states on how to modernize their forces and logistics, as cited by News.Ro.

“While the regional plans have not been formally approved today, we expect these plans to be part of the follow-on outcome of the Vilnius summit in July,” a senior US official told Reuters.

Author: Liviu Kojan