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NATO holds summit on June 28 amid jitters emanating from Ukraine's war

Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Logo
Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Logo

Report by Hanadi Watfa

MADRID, June 26 (KUNA) -- Spain will host on June 28-30 a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) focusing on means of dealing with Russia that has been engaged in what it has labelled as "the special military operation in Ukraine" since February.
The summiteers are coming together in a new conference of the alliance, founded in 1949, in the shadow of unprecedented global tensions, particularly in Europe and countries close to Russia, a powerful nation at loggerheads with the western powers over Ukraine's destiny.
NATO has not deployed troops on the Ukrainian territories affirming the western stance of unwilling to get embroiled in direct military confrontations with the Russian forces, however, the coalition has been dispatching significant caches of arms and ammunition to Kyiv. And the Russians have pursued the military operation, capturing swaths of lands from the Ukrainians namely in the country's eastern part.
Up to 44 delegations including heads of states, governments, ministers of defense and foreign affairs of the 30 member states are scheduled to partake in the top-level meeting. Moreover, the participants will include four non-NATO members, Cyprus, Malta, Austria and Ireland, in addition to Finland and Sweden. From Asia and the Pacific, there will be present representatives of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea as well as Bosnia Herzegovina.
Also in the participation schedule, countries forecast to send in representatives are Jordan and Mauritania, along with top officials of the European Union. An official invitation has been addressed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky but he may join via video.
Totally, number of the conferees may hit as high as 5,000 including officials and media personnel.
The conferees are expected to focus debates on global security issues namely the Ukraine war, the Chinese question and mounting Russian influence in Africa.
Spain on May 30 celebrated the 40th anniversary of joining the alliance.
It is the second time the nation hosts a NATO summit since 1997. (end) hnd.rk