NATO summit in Madrid in the news ticker: Germany provides 15,000 soldiers for intervention forces

Created: 2022-06-29 05:41

By: Patrick Mayer

On June 29th and 30th, the transatlantic defense alliance NATO meets in Madrid because of the Ukraine war.

Follow all decisions here in the news ticker.

• NATO summit

  in

  Madrid

  : USA want to move more troops to Europe.

• Turkey

  lifts blockade: path cleared for accession talks with

  Finland

  and

  Sweden

  .

• "NATO must be strong": Defense Minister Lambrecht provides 15,000 extra soldiers.

• This

  news ticker for the NATO summit in Madrid (June 29/30)

  is continuously updated.

Update from June 28, 9:45 p.m .:

Germany will contribute 15,000 soldiers from the Bundeswehr to the expanded NATO intervention forces.

The federal government is ready to "provide a division, that is: 15,000 soldiers," said Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht shortly before the start of the NATO summit in Madrid.

In addition, according to their information, "approximately 65 aircraft and 20 ships" should come.

"NATO must be strong, and that must also be reflected in the numbers of soldiers," Lambrecht added.

Germany is ready to make a contribution.

The expanded NATO intervention forces are said to consist of more than 300,000 soldiers.

Federal Defense Minister Lambrecht wants to make 15,000 soldiers available for the expanded NATO intervention forces.

© picture alliance/dpa |

David Indian song

Baerbock before the NATO summit: "It's completely open how long the war in Ukraine will last"

Update from June 28, 9:11 p.m .:

According to Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, it is completely open how long the war in Ukraine will last.

"We don't know when the war will end.

It could end tomorrow when the Russian President stops the bombing," said the Green politician ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid that begins on Wednesday.

This is the hope expressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

And the West must do everything to keep this hope alive.

"We will do everything to ensure that Ukraine remains a sovereign state and that the whole country can live in peace and freedom," promised Baerbock.

Sweden and Finland join NATO: Turkey's President Erdogan gives up resistance

Update from June 28, 8:57 p.m .:

Turkey has given up its resistance to Sweden and Finland joining NATO and has thus cleared the way for accession talks.

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Turkey will support the invitation to Finland and Sweden to join the alliance during the NATO summit in Madrid, said Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.

A memorandum to this effect was signed after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In talks with the two Nordic countries, Turkey "got what it wanted," the Turkish Presidential Office said.

Kyiv Mayor Klitschko calls for more and faster arms deliveries

Update from June 28, 8:05 p.m .:

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko has called for more and faster arms deliveries to Ukraine in view of the NATO summit in Madrid.

It is expected that the delivery of defensive weapons will be accelerated, said Klitschko in the Spanish capital.

He uses the term defensive weapons because his country is defending itself against Russia.

Specifically, Ukraine needs a missile defense system.

"At this moment, peace in Europe depends on Ukraine," said Klitschko.

The Russian attack is not a war against the Ukrainian army, but against the Ukrainian people.

It is a genocide against the Ukrainian people.

They are ready to start negotiations with Russia as soon as the last Russian soldier has left Ukrainian territory.

NATO's door must be open to the Eastern European country.

Klitschko's brother Wladimir spoke of war crimes that should not continue.

He warned, "Wake up folks, this is happening now, you'll be next."

NATO summit in Madrid: Russian threat to Europe - British chief of staff with assessment

Update from June 28, 6:10 p.m .:

According to the chief of staff of the British armed forces, the threat to Europe’s security posed by Russia is increasing regardless of the outcome of the Ukraine war.

"We don't know how the war in Ukraine will end, but in most scenarios Russia will pose a greater threat to European security than before," Chief of Staff Patrick Sanders said at a conference in London.

In the past, Russia has often shown that, despite initial difficulties, it can emerge victorious from a military conflict thanks to its stamina and its almost endless resources, Sanders justified his warning.

In addition, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that he is pursuing expansionist goals.

Setbacks are therefore only temporary.

Moscow must be deterred from continuing military aggression by strengthening the British armed forces and its allies, Sanders said before the NATO summit on Wednesday and Thursday in Madrid, Spain.

"We have to meet strength with strength from the start and clearly be prepared to fight for NATO territory," said the UK's top-ranking soldier.

Discussions on Finland and Sweden joining: will Turkey's President Erdogan make concessions?

Update from June 28, 5:50 p.m .:

Power of the Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan concessions regarding a possible NATO accession of Finland and Sweden?

Ankara was the only member of the transatlantic defense alliance to have expressed concerns and has so far blocked the process.

This Tuesday, Finland's President Sauli Niinistö and Erdogan will meet in the context of the NATO summit to discuss "where the shoe really pinches and whether something can be done about it," Niinistö is quoted as saying by the STT news agency.

Because of the Russian war of aggression, Finland, like Sweden, is striving to join NATO, which resulted in threatening gestures from the Russian government of Moscow ruler Vladimir Putin.

Update from June 28, 5:30 p.m .:

NATO wants to increase its rapid reaction force to over 300,000 soldiers in response to the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Bundeswehr also provides a large contingent.

But that's not all - an overview of what the expansion of the NATO Response Force (NRF) means for Germany.

NATO summit in Madrid: USA want to move more troops to Europe

First report from June 28:

Munich/Madrid - Further reactions to the Russia-Ukraine war are to be announced: The NATO summit will take place in Madrid on Wednesday and Thursday (June 29/30).

The transatlantic defense alliance wants to use this to present further answers to the Russian attack on its western neighbor.

The first indications were already given in advance: The USA wants to permanently strengthen its military presence in Europe.

The US government will make specific announcements Wednesday about "long-term" additional forces on land, sea and air, US President Joe Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday (June 28).

The pledges would “extend beyond the duration of this crisis.”

Among other things, more US warships should be stationed at the Rota military base in Spain, which the United States also uses - it is about six instead of four destroyers.

Chancellor Scholz announces: Germany is planning the largest conventional army in Western Europe

Sullivan also hinted at a renewed increase in forces on NATO's eastern flank, but gave no details.

It's about "accounting for a more acute and heightened Russian threat," he said.

There are now more than 100,000 US soldiers in Europe due to the increase in troops due to the war in Ukraine.

In the past few months, the USA has not ruled out a permanently higher troop presence.

Among other things, 4,000 other soldiers arrived at the Grafenwöhr military training area in the Bavarian Upper Palatinate in mid-March.

Stationed in Bavaria: Prime Minister Markus Söder (Med., CSU) welcomed 4,000 US soldiers in Grafenwoehr in the Upper Palatinate in March.

© Armin Weigel/dpa

German-American cooperation is particularly emphasized: According to Olaf Scholz (SPD), Germany is now the country in Europe that, alongside the USA, "certainly makes the largest contribution" to NATO.

"Then, and that is also important for NATO's overall defense capability, the largest conventional army within the NATO framework in Europe will be created," said the Chancellor after the G7 summit meeting in Bavaria on the ARD program "Bekennen Farb".

NATO summit in Madrid in the news ticker: meeting in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war

With the approval of the special fund of one hundred billion euros for the Bundeswehr by the German Bundestag in response to the Russia-Ukraine war, consensus was reached in Germany "that we spend more money on defense," explained Scholz: "We will spend an average of around 70 to 80 billion euros per year on defense over the next few years.

And then Germany is the country that invests the most in this.”

Follow all developments and decisions on the NATO summit in Madrid (June 29/30) here in the news ticker.