By Shannon Pettypiece -
NBC News
MADRID – President Joe Biden pledged Wednesday to strengthen US military operations in Europe, in an attempt to strengthen the power and unity of NATO members in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
During the first day of the Atlantic alliance summit held in Madrid, which could become one of the most important meetings in the organization's 73-year history due to the geopolitical context, Biden announced that his government will create a general headquarters for the 5th Army Corps in Poland, which will become the first permanent US forces on NATO's eastern flank.
President Joe Biden during the first day of the NATO summit in Madrid. Susan Walsh / AP
The United States will also deploy additional troops to Romania on a rotating basis and reinforce other missions in the Baltic countries.
On the other hand, the United States will also send two squadrons of F-35s to the United Kingdom, put in place more air defense and other capabilities in Germany and Italy, and reinforce naval operations in Spain, increasing the number of destroyers stationed there. from four to six.
These measures, Biden explained, are intended to ensure that NATO is prepared to deal with potential threats from the air, land and sea.
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"At a time when [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has shattered the peace in Europe and attacked the very tenants of the rules-based order," Biden said, "The United States and our allies are stepping up, demonstrating that NATO is needed now more than ever, and is as important as ever.
The United States currently has 100,000 troops in Europe, after sending an additional 20,000 troops earlier this year.
NATO is strong, it is united, and the steps we are taking this summer will further increase our collective strength.
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One of the most important developments on the first day of the summit was the announcement that the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will lift his veto on the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO
Although the United States did not directly negotiate the deal, Biden brokered the deal, a White House official told reporters.
Both presidents are scheduled to meet on Wednesday.
The agreement to expand NATO's potential, together with the increase in the number of troops in Eastern Europe, aims to greatly strengthen the alliance's capabilities to defend itself against any possible Russian aggression towards its member states.
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But while the 30-member military alliance has remained determined to support Ukraine, divergent views have emerged in recent months on everything from how to punish Russia to the level of military preparedness needed to meet any threat.
Still, Biden hopes to project unity toward Russia when the summit ends, an effort greatly aided by the deal between Turkey, Finland and Sweden.
"We have to stick together," Biden declared this week before meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, "because Putin has counted from the beginning that NATO and the G7 would somehow split.
But we haven't and we won't."
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Before the start of the summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced a major review of the group's military posture and priorities, increasing the number of its high readiness forces to more than 300,000 from the current 40,000, in addition to intensify military supplies and equipment in NATO members bordering Russia.
The alliance will also make clear in its so-called Strategic Concept that it no longer sees Russia as a "strategic partner", but as a "direct threat to our security, to our values, to the rules-based international order", Stoltenberg advanced in a conference press release on Monday.