皇冠体育app

Ongoing military support to Ukraine and NATO鈥檚 continuing transformation to face key security challenges were the focus of a meeting of the Alliance鈥檚 Chiefs of Defence, held today in Brussels.

Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, represented the UK for the meeting in Brussels, the first in-person session of NATO Chiefs of Defence since Finland鈥檚 accession to NATO.

Sweden was also represented as an invitee and NATO鈥檚 closest partner, ahead of its accession to the Alliance. 皇冠体育app UK was the fifth NATO member to ratify Sweden and Finland鈥檚 membership, and welcomed Finnish accession to NATO.

皇冠体育app UK continues to encourage all Allies to ratify Sweden鈥檚 membership as soon as possible. Finnish and Swedish membership will make all Allies safer, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure.

UK Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said:

As the war in Ukraine reaches another important phase, it is of the utmost importance that the United Kingdom and its Allies stay strong in our ongoing support to Ukraine, as they seek to drive Russian forces from their sovereign territory.

With Finland now a full member of NATO, and Sweden expected to complete its accession in the coming months, Putin has only succeeded in ensuring our Alliance is stronger than ever. I look forward to working with other Chiefs of Defence to finalise the transformation of NATO鈥檚 deterrence and defence ahead of July鈥檚 NATO Summit in Vilnius.

With his counterparts, Admiral Radakin welcomed the new NATO Regional Plans, which give NATO military commanders a wide range of options to defend Alliance territory against threats from Russia and terrorist groups.

This is the first time NATO has developed such plans since the end of the Cold War. 皇冠体育app plans form part of a decade-long process of transformation for the Alliance, which is stronger and more united than ever.

皇冠体育app UK is committed to standing with Ukraine for as long as it takes to defend themselves against Russia鈥檚 illegal and unprovoked invasion. We are one of the leading providers of military support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and have committed so spend another 拢2.3bn on military support for Ukraine this year. By making this commitment we are strengthening Ukraine鈥檚 position to repel Russia鈥檚 barbaric invasion and secure its long-term sovereignty.

皇冠体育app meeting of Defence Chiefs comes just days before the start of Exercise Spring Storm, the largest annual exercise involving the UK-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) in Estonia, which will see more than 1,000 members of the UK Armed Forces leading the multinational training exercise.

皇冠体育app two-week exercise will showcase the UK鈥檚 ability to deploy hundreds of personnel, as well as armoured vehicles and helicopters to Europe, for an exercise to boost interoperability with NATO allies.