Arriving at the start of a two-day meeting of NATO Defence Ministers on Thursday (15 June 2023), Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Allies would discuss how to sustain and step up support to Ukraine, and work to further bolster the Alliance's deterrence and defence.
The meeting of NATO Defence Ministers will begin with a NATO-Ukraine Commission, with the participation of Defence Minister Reznikov. It will be preceded by a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, led by the United States.
"We will also address how to further strengthen NATO's deterrence and defence as preparation for the upcoming Vilnius summit in July next month, where we will have new regional plans, a New Force Model - new force structure, - and also address the need to strengthen our pledge to invest more in defence," said Mr Stoltenberg.
Other topics over the coming two days include the development of a new Defence Production Action Plan; the approval of new capability targets for battle decisive ammunitions; and the establishment of a NATO Maritime Centre for the Security of Critical Undersea Infrastructure. The Nuclear Planning Group will also meet "to address how to continue to ensure that our nuclear deterrence remains safe, secure and effective and in a more dangerous world," said the Secretary General.
