US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III marked NATO’s birthday by slamming Russia, pledging more help for Ukraine and warning that any attempt to undermine the alliance only undermines American security.
In a speech Wednesday at the summit marking the 75th anniversary of NATO’s creation. he also praised what he called an historic increase in defense spending among the allies. This year, a record 23 members of the alliance will meet the defense-spending target of two percent of GDP.
“Now, our NATO allies are not just spending more on their own defense. They’re also spending more on America’s industrial base,” Austin said. “That means platforms and munitions built in America. And that’s helping to revitalize production lines across our country and to create good jobs for American workers.”
He also said alliance members will work to expand industrial capacity. That will help scale up military production, he said, and send a long-term signal to industry.
Austin’s speech came not long after word that NATO countries have begin sending long-awaited F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. President Biden announced the agreement more than a year ago. Ukrainian pilots and maintenance crews have been training with the planes for months, both in the US and Europe.
The defense secretary pledged that there is more to come.
“We’ll deepened cooperation in support of Ukraine’s self-defense,” Austin said. “We’ll launch a new military effort to help coordinate some aspects of security assistance and training for Ukraine. And we’re poised to agree on a new financial pledge to Ukraine.”
Austin also said that in the wake of what he called Putin’s imperial invasion, “we’ve bolstered NATO’s forward defense posture with more troops at high readiness, larger exercises, sharper vigilance and multinational battle groups in eight countries.”
And he scoffed at those who blame NATO’s expansion for triggering the invasion of Ukraine.
“And make no mistake. Putin’s war is not the result of NATO enlargement,” Austin said. “Putin’s war is the cause of NATO enlargement.”
Austin told the audience of diplomats and military officials that without NATO, the world would have been a far more dangerous place the last 75 years. He said that by deterring Soviet aggression against western Europe during the Cold War, the alliance prevented a third world war, and that NATO air power in the 1990s stopped ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
One of the next tasks, Austin said, is to strengthen ties with global partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
“I know that’s we’re all troubled by China’s support for Putin’s war against Ukraine,” he said. “That just reminds us of the profound links between Euro-Atlantic security and Indo-Pacific security. And it sends a message to the world that we are united in our values.”
Austin said he learned a valuable lesson early in his 41-year career in the Army – the last thing you want to do as a soldier is to fight alone: “So here’s blunt military reality. American is strong with our allies…and America is more secure with our allies. And any attempt to undermine NATO only undermines American security.”
