Deployment ‘From the Baltic to the Black Sea’
Amid concerns over possible chemical attacks in Ukraine, NATO has decided to activate the Alliance’s NBC – chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear – defence elements.
The decision was taken by NATO leaders at their extraordinary summit on 24 March, after warnings circulated in recent days regarding the risk of Russia’s use of chemical weapons and the risk of spillover into neighbouring European countries. As has already happened in other theatres, chemical weapons might be used to cover the advance of Russian armoured vehicles, by killing the Ukrainians who launch missiles.
According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the allies have agreed “to provide equipment to help Ukraine protect” against these threats, including detection equipment, protection, medical support, decontamination training, and crisis management. To protect its territory, NATO is also deploying additional chemical, biological and nuclear defenses to bolster its existing battlegroups.
These are among several additional actions that NATO is taking. Some are short term measures, such as the decision to provide additional weapons to Ukraine; others are longer term – the Alliance’s new deterrence and defence posture as a response to the deteriorating security environment, for example.
In concrete terms, in addition to the increase in men and means characterising the past few days, the leaders decided to further strengthen the Eastern flank of the alliance, doubling the number of tactical groups to eight. In addition to those already deployed in the Baltic and Poland, there will be four more in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. A deployment “from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea,” as Stoltenberg defined it.
Speaking of the long term, NATO leaders also discussed China’s role in the Ukrainian war, including whether it might be a possible mediator. Leaders, Stoltenberg said, “asked China to refrain from supporting Russia’s war effort. […] China should not provide economic or military support for the Russian invasion, instead it should use its significant influence over Russia and promote an immediate and peaceful resolution”.
China showed its firm support to Russia prior to the invasion, while refraining from condemning it at the United Nations. Anti-Chinese rhetoric may be part of a new chapter NATO is opening. From this perspective, the Ukrainian crisis could be seen both as the last chapter of an outdated Cold War and the first chapter of another, for the moment only symbolic, against the PRC.
Caterina Tani reporting from NATO for MON
