BRUSSELS: NATO leaders plan to pledge next week to keep pouring arms and ammunition into Ukraine at current levels for at least another year, hoping to reassure the war-ravaged country of their ongoing support and show Russian President Vladimir Putin that they will not walk away.
US President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet in Washington for a three-day summit beginning Tuesday to mark the military alliance’s 75th anniversary as Russian troops press their advantage along Ukraine’s eastern front in the third year of the war.
Speaking to reporters Friday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO’s 32 member countries have been spending around 40 billion euros ($43 billion) each year on military equipment for Ukraine since the war began in February 2022 and that this should be “a minimum baseline” going forward.
“I expect allies will decide at the summit to sustain this level within the next year,” Stoltenberg said. He said the amount would be shared among nations based on their economic growth and that the leaders will review the figure when they meet again in 2025.
NATO is desperate to do more for Ukraine but is struggling to find new ways. Already, NATO allies provide 99 percent of the military support it gets. Soon, the alliance will manage equipment deliveries. But two red lines remain: no NATO membership until the war is over, and no NATO boots on the ground there.
At their last summit, NATO leaders agreed to fast-track Ukraine’s membership process — although the country is unlikely to join for many years — and set up a high-level body for emergency consultations. Several countries promised more military equipment.
A year on, they want to put on a fresh display of unity and resolve, even as uncertainty over elections roils many of the organization’s biggest members. The possible return of Donald Trump, who undermined trust among the allies while he was the US president, is a particular concern.
But governments in France and Germany also were weakened in elections this year. Italy is led by a prime minister whose party has neo-fascist roots, while an anti-immigrant party heads a shaky coalition in the Netherlands and Spain’s Cabinet relies on small parties to rule. The UK will have a new leader.
Whoever might be in power though, it’s become clear that there’s not a lot more that NATO can do.
Lately, Stoltenberg has insisted on a long-term commitment to Ukraine. Major funding delays, notably due to political wrangling in the US Congress, have left the country’s armed forces, in his words, “to defend themselves with one hand tied on the back.”
He had hoped the allies would agree to spend at least 40 billion euros annually on weapons in a “major, multi-year” program. It does not mean an increase in support, though. The figure roughly equals what they have already spent each year since the war began.
One new initiative the leaders are likely to endorse is a mission to get the right military equipment into Ukraine and streamline training for its armed forces. In their haste to help, Western backers have inundated Ukraine with all kinds of weapons and materiel.
In the early chaos of war, anything was welcome, but the deliveries have become unmanageable — a multitude of different kinds of vehicles or defense systems that require distinct maintenance plans and dedicated supply chains to keep them running.
Offers of training programs outside Ukraine have also been abundant, indeed so prolific and different that its armed forces struggle to prioritize which troops to send, to what NATO country, and for how long.
“We’ve let a thousand flowers bloom,” conceded a senior US State Department official, but added that with a new mission, probably based in Wiesbaden, Germany, and under the likely leadership of a US general, “NATO can come in and say: We’ve got it.”
The official requested anonymity to discuss plans that had not been finalized.
Sending military equipment via this new mission would also prevent rogue governments or leaders from meddling with joint deliveries. NATO officials say the mission would complement the US-led effort to drum up arms, the so-called Ramstein group.
The US will announce new steps to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses and military capabilities, according to a senior Biden administration official.
The official, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, declined to detail the air defense capabilities that would be sent. But the administration signaled last month that the US will rush delivery of air defense interceptor missiles to Ukraine by redirecting planned shipments to other allied nations.
The official said members of the NATO-Ukraine Council would meet Thursday at the summit. Later that day, Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will host an event with leaders from nearly two dozen other nations who have negotiated and signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine.
A conundrum for NATO leaders is how to frame Ukraine’s membership prospects without letting it join. Many allies refuse to allow Ukraine in while fighting continues, concerned about being dragged into a wider war with Russia. Hungary opposes Ukraine’s membership altogether.
In the run-up to the summit, NATO envoys have been weighing the use of words such as “irreversible” to describe Ukraine’s path to membership as they tweak language that has shifted constantly since they promised in 2008 that the country would join one day.
It’s unclear how this will be accepted in Kyiv. At their last meeting, the leaders were noncommittal about timing, saying only that they would be “in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are met.”
Zelensky described it as “unprecedented and absurd when a time frame is set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership.” He complained that “vague wording about ‘conditions’ is added even for inviting Ukraine.”
In recent weeks, Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have been briefed on developments to avoid a repeat of the criticism. Stoltenberg said he and Zelensky agreed earlier this month that the new steps the leaders will take “constitute a bridge to NATO membership and a very strong package for Ukraine at the summit.”
Membership would protect Ukraine against a giant neighbor that annexed its Crimean Peninsula a decade ago and more recently seized vast swaths of land in the east and south. Before then, Kyiv must reform its security institutions, improve governance and curb corruption.
NATO leaders will vow to pour weapons into Ukraine for another year, but membership is off the table
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NATO leaders will vow to pour weapons into Ukraine for another year, but membership is off the table
- Leaders hope to reassure Ukraine of their ongoing support and show Russia that they will not walk away
- Fears raised over decline in support for Ukraine as Russia-leaning politicians gain ground in their respective countries
India, Pakistan accuse each other of violating ceasefire hours after reaching deal
- US-mediated deal had been expected to bring a swift end to weeks of escalating clashes
ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan accused each other of violating a ceasefire deal made hours earlier Saturday after US-led talks to end the most serious military confrontation between the nuclear-armed rivals in decades.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said late Saturday that “there had been repeated violations of the understanding arrived between the two countries” on ceasing fire and accused Pakistan of breaching the agreement.
“We call upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address these violations and deal with the situation with seriousness and responsibility,” he said at a news conference in New Delhi. Misri said the Indian army was “retaliating” for what he called a “border intrusion.”
Within hours of the truce announcement, violations were reported from the main cities of Indian-administered Kashmir, as well as in Azad Kashmir on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir region between India and Pakistan.
The reports came after Islamabad and India both announced a sudden stop to a conflict that had seemed to be spiraling alarmingly. The US said they had also agreed to hold talks on a broad range of issues at a neutral site.
Pakistani Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told Arab News, “the response would be harsh” if India defied the ceasefire agreement.
The deal had been expected to bring a swift end to weeks of escalating clashes, including missile and drone strikes, triggered by the massacre of tourists by gunmen last month that India blames on Pakistan, which denies the charge. Dozens of civilians have been killed on both sides since then. But multiple explosions were heard in two large cities of India-controlled Kashmir hours after the countries agreed to the deal.
The first word of the truce came from US President Donald Trump, who posted on his Truth Social platform that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire: “Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced the truce on Geo News, saying that Saudi Arabia and Turkiye played an important role in facilitating the deal.
Misri said the head of military operations from both countries spoke Saturday afternoon and top military leaders will speak again Monday.
“It was agreed between them that both sides would stop all firing and military action on land, and in the air and sea. Instructions have been given on both sides to give effect to this understanding,” he said.
Hours after the agreement, explosions heard by residents in Srinagar and Jammu in India-controlled Kashmir were followed by blackouts in the two cities. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Omar Abdullah, the region’s top elected official, said in a post on social media: “What the hell just happened to the ceasefire? Explosions heard across Srinagar!!!”
Working toward a broader agreement
Conflict between India and Pakistan is not rare, with the two countries having periodically engaged in wars, clashes and skirmishes since gaining independence from British India in 1947.
The ceasefire in the latest hostilities came after the countries fired volleys of cross-border missile strikes Saturday, when India said it targeted Pakistani air bases after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles at military and civilian infrastructure in Punjab state. Pakistan said it responded with retaliatory strikes.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he and Vice President JD Vance had engaged with senior officials from both countries over the past 48 hours. They included Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir.
Rubio said the two governments agreed to “start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.”
Though Pakistanis had initially celebrated their army’s retaliation, they were later jubilant about the truce, saying it was a moment of national pride and relief after days of tension.
In Islamabad, Zubaida Bibi expressed her joy at the restoration of peace with India.
“War brings nothing but suffering,” she said. “We are happy that calm is returning. It feels like Eid to me. We have won.”
Indian strikes hit Pakistani air bases
Tensions have soared since the attack at a popular tourist site in India-controlled Kashmir left 26 civilians dead, mostly Indian Hindu tourists, on April 22.
Earlier Saturday, India’s military held a press briefing in New Delhi, saying Pakistan had targeted health facilities and schools at its three air bases in Kashmir.
“Befitting reply has been given to Pakistani actions,” Indian Col. Sofiya Qureshi said.
Indian missiles targeted Nur Khan air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, Murid air base in Chakwal city and Rafiqui air base in the Jhang district of eastern Punjab province, according to Pakistan’s military spokesman.
There were no immediate reports of the strike or its aftermath from residents in the densely populated Rawalpindi.
Pakistan’s military had said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to hit an Indian missile storage facility and air bases in the cities of Pathankot and Udhampur. Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif said the country’s air force assets were safe after the Indian assault.
The Associated Press could not independently verify all the actions attributed to Pakistan or India.
Explosions in India-controlled Kashmir
After the announcement of Pakistani retaliation, residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir said they heard loud explosions at multiple places, including the large cities of Srinagar and Jammu and the garrison town of Udhampur.
“Explosions that we are hearing today are different from the ones we heard the last two nights during drone attacks,” said Shesh Paul Vaid, the region’s former top police official and Jammu resident. “It looks like a war here.”
Vaid said explosions were heard from areas with military bases, adding it appeared that army sites were targeted. Residents living near Srinagar’s airport, which is also an air base, said they were rattled by the explosions and booming sound of jets.
“I was already awake, but the explosions jolted my kids out of their sleep. They started crying,” said Srinagar resident Mohammed Yasin.
Omar Abdullah, Indian-controlled Kashmir’s top elected official, welcomed the ceasefire. But he said had it happened two or three days earlier “we might have avoided the bloodshed and the loss of precious lives.”
Flooding in eastern Congo kills 62 people with 50 missing
- Witnesses described the floods surging at around 5 a.m. Friday
- The rescue operation was hampered by a lack of servicescongo
BUKAVU, Congo: Heavy flooding following torrential rains in eastern Congo washed away several villages along the shores of Lake Tanganyika, leaving at least 62 dead and 50 missing, authorities said Saturday.
Witnesses described the floods surging at around 5 a.m. Friday and sweeping away the village of Kasaba on the edge of the lake in the Ngandja sector.
The South Kivu provincial health minister, Théophile Walulika Muzaliwa, said by phone that the rescue operation was hampered by a lack of services and a shutdown of telephone lines due to the flooding.
“Sector chiefs, village chiefs and locality chiefs, who are also members of the local government, are on site. The only humanitarian organization currently present is the Red Cross. It is not possible to give an assessment as body searches are continuing,” he said.
Last month, flooding in the capital, Kinshasa, killed 33 people.
Decades of fighting between government troops and rebels in eastern Congo escalated in February, worsening what is already one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
UK pro-Israel group slammed for suggesting war could reduce Gaza obesity
- Comments follow warnings by UN, aid agencies that enclave faces imminent famine
- Council for Arab-British Understanding, Palestine Solidarity Campaign label remarks ‘atrocious’, ‘utterly sickening’, ‘repulsive’
LONDON: A pro-Israel pressure group in the UK has been condemned for suggesting that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip may benefit from a reduction in obesity levels arising from the war, The Guardian reported on Saturday.
The comments — made by Jonathan Turner, head of UK Lawyers for Israel — followed a series of warnings by the UN and aid agencies that Gaza faces imminent famine.
Turner, on behalf of UKLFI, was responding to a motion set to be debated at the annual general meeting of the Co-operative Group, a major British retailer.
The motion calls for the Co-operative to stop stocking Israeli products, as part of the worldwide Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. UKLFI urged the Co-operative council to withdraw the motion.
In doing so, Turner highlighted the motion’s reference to a letter published last year by The Lancet, a leading medical journal, which said the death toll in Gaza could be far higher than the 52,000 put forth by the enclave’s Health Ministry.
Turner said the letter “ignored factors that may increase average life expectancy in Gaza, bearing in mind that one of the biggest health issues in Gaza prior to the current war was obesity … These factors include the possible reduction in the availability of confectionery and cigarettes.”
Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said on X that Turner’s comments represent “atrocious views,” adding: “How very kind of Israel to put 2.3 million Palestinians on an enforced diet to improve their obesity levels.”
The Lancet has published several studies relating to Israel’s war in Gaza. One found that life expectancy in the enclave plunged by 34.9 years during the first year of the war. Gaza’s pre-war life expectancy was 75.5 years.
Since March, Israel has implemented a total blockade on the entry of humanitarian goods to the enclave.
Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: “As children in the Gaza Strip face the growing risk of starvation, illness and death, the suggestion by the head of UK Lawyers for Israel that they might benefit from weight loss is utterly sickening.
“These repulsive comments illustrate exactly what it means to be ‘for Israel’ and how low its apologists are prepared to sink in their attempts to justify genocide in Gaza.”
UKLFI previously faced controversy over the removal of artwork made by Palestinian children in a London hospital.
The organization submitted a complaint to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in 2023, claiming that artwork created by Palestinian children and displayed in the facility made Jewish patients feel “vulnerable, harassed and victimized.” The hospital removed the works.
Amnesty International says at least 30 dead in separatist attack in southeastern Nigeria
- No group has claimed responsibility for the attack
- The rights group said “international law requires the Nigerian government to promptly investigate unlawful killings”
ABUJA: At least 30 people have been killed after gunmen attacked travelers on a major highway in the southeastern part of Nigeria, rights group Amnesty International said.
The rights group said more than 20 vehicles and trucks were set ablaze during the Thursday attack along the Okigwe-Owerri highway in Imo state. Police confirmed the attack but not the death toll.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but police suspect the Eastern Security Network, the paramilitary wing of the proscribed separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra.
The secessionist campaign in southeastern Nigeria dates back to when the short-lived Republic of Biafra fought and lost a civil war from 1967 to 1970 to become independent from the West African country. An estimated 1 million people died in the conflict, many from starvation.
The rights group said “international law requires the Nigerian government to promptly investigate unlawful killings with a view to bringing perpetrators to justice.”
One suspect connected to the attack was killed in a joint operation by law enforcement agencies, police spokesperson Okoye Henry said in a statement.
“An intensive manhunt is ongoing to apprehend the fleeing suspects and bring them to justice,” Henry said.
Two of the group’s prominent leaders, Nnamdi Kanu and Simon Ekpa, are in custody in Nigeria and Finland, respectively.
Kanu is standing trial on a seven-count charge bordering on terrorism and treasonable felony. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Nigerian government said Friday it has not begun extradition proceedings but is in talks with Finnish authorities to ensure Ekpa is held accountable for his alleged actions.
For many years Nigeria — Africa’s most populous nation with at least 210 million people — has been wracked by violence related to the activities of armed extremist groups.
Polish nationalists stage anti-immigration demo ahead of polls
- The protest, organized by the nationalist opposition, drew demonstrators from across Poland
- Immigration is a central issue in the central European country ahead of the May 18 election
WARSAW: Several thousand people demonstrated in Warsaw on Saturday against illegal immigration and the pro-European government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a week before the EU member chooses a new president.
The protest, organized by the nationalist opposition, drew demonstrators from across Poland, who carried the red and white national flag and chanted slogans such as “no to immigration.”
Immigration is a central issue in the central European country ahead of the May 18 election.
Poland currently hosts around one million refugees from the war in neighboring Ukraine, and has accused Russia and Belarus of orchestrating a wave of immigration into the European Union member.
The protesters made their way toward the seat of government in central Warsaw, chanting the name of nationalist presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki.
The 42-year-old fan of US President Donald Trump has the backing of the right-wing opposition Law and Justice party and outgoing President Andrzej Duda.
He is polling second in the presidential race, with around 25 percent support.
The frontrunner, Warsaw’s pro-European Union Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, has the support of Tusk’s Civic Coalition and is polling on 32 percent.
“Poland has to defend itself against illegal immigration. These migrants have their own countries. They should stay there,” 66-year-old farmer Boguslaw Uchmanowicz told AFP.
