Category Archives: NATO

Britain, NATO, Russia, United States

US-UK relations on NATO and Russia

WASHINGTON-LONDON

trump-may-reaffirm-us-uk-special-relationship

Ties between the US and Britain have “never been stronger”, US President Donald Trump said as he welcomed British Prime Minister Theresa May to the White House.

President Donald Trump is 100 per cent behind NATO, Theresa May has declared.

Following their first talks in the White House, the Prime Minister has said that the U.S. and UK were united in their “unshakeable commitment” to the alliance, and that both leaders recognise NATO as the “bulwark of our collective defence”.

However, the pair are set for a collision course on how to handle Vladimir Putin after President Trump said he hoped to have a “fantastic relationship” with the Russian leader. The British Prime Minister said she strongly supported continuing sanctions against Russia, but Mr Trump’s newly assembled administration said the lifting of sanctions was on the table.

Earlier this month, the president caused alarm across Europe as he dismissed NATO as “obsolete” and expressed a desire for warmer ties with Mr Putin. During his election campaign Mr Trump even suggested he could withdraw the US from the military alliance if other European members did not spend more money on defence.

Mrs May has pledged to work in persuading other EU leaders to meet their NATO commitment of spending 2 per cent of national income on defence. She has said that member states need to make sure they are equipped to fight terrorism and cyber warfare, as well as combatting conventional forms of war.

But, there are clear differences between the US and UK on Russia. In comments that would have been alarming to No 10, the president said of Mr Putin: ‘I don’t know the gentleman. I hope we have a fantastic relationship. That’s possible and it’s also possible that we won’t. We will see what happens.’

President Trump, said: ‘I have had many times where I thought I would get along with people and I don’t like them at all… And I have had some where I didn’t think I was going to have much of a relationship and it turned out to be a great relationship.’

Mr Trump has also said that he hoped for a ‘great relationship’ with China.

Mrs May said the UK would not back down on Russian sanctions amid suggestions Mr Trump could agree to lift them.

The Prime Minister said: ‘As far as the UK is concerned on sanctions for Russia in relation to their activities in the Ukraine, we have been very clear that we want to see the Minsk agreement (aimed at resolving the conflict between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels) fully implemented.

‘We believe the sanctions should continue until we see that Minsk agreement fully implemented, and we’ve been continuing to argue that inside the European Union.’

Mr Trump has not answered directly whether he would remove the measures. A senior adviser to the U.S. President said that US sanctions against Moscow, and other issues, would be on the table.

Barack Obama’s administration and the EU hit Moscow with sanctions for sending in troops and supporting pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine. Earlier this month Mr Trump suggested his administration could lift them in return for a nuclear arms deal – irrespective of whether Mr Putin withdrew troops from the Ukraine.

The comments have sparked fears that an emboldened Russia could launch a full-scale invasion in the Ukraine or Baltic States.

Responding to the possibility of sanctions being lifted, the former head of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said: ‘I would urge strong caution against reversing any sanctions on Russia without concrete concessions.

‘Easing sanctions will only embolden Russia’s aggression in the region, putting the security interests of Ukraine and the United States in jeopardy.’

The U.S. softens its stance on torture

Donald Trump has dropped his controversial threat to revive the use of torture. This follows a warning from Theresa May who said it would force Britain to curb intelligence sharing.

In what will be seen as a dramatic about-turn, the US President has indicated that he would not now order secret service interrogators to use torture despite maintaining “it works”. Mr Trump said he would defer to his security advisers who are overwhelmingly opposed to the use of torture.

Mr Trump sparked an angry backlash when he first spoke out in favour of waterboarding, saying the West had to “fight fire with fire” in the war on terrorism.

His comments sparked alarm in the British intelligence community, with sources warning rules banning intelligence sharing with states that use torture would prohibit vital co-operation with the US. The U.S. President said he was bowing to the advice given to him by his Defence Secretary, General James Mattis, who has seen active service in the Middle East and who is opposed to torture.

Protagonists argue that extreme interrogation methods should be used if it saves lives.

Standard
Britain, Defence, Government, Military, NATO, United States

British maritime surveillance of Russian submarines is weak

DEFENCE

smolensk

Danger: Smolensk nuclear powered submarine

BRITAIN is struggling to keep track of the growing number of Russian submarines in its waters.

The Russian president Vladimir Putin is increasingly using his fleet to hide off the coast to test the weaknesses of the Royal Navy.

The Navy has been forced to rely on NATO patrols since it scrapped its submarine-tracking aircraft in 2010, with replacements not due for at least two more years – a so-called security gap in Britain’s military power.

Figures on hostile incursions in British waters are kept secret, but of ten known incidents between 2005 and 2015, eight were in the past three years. In June, a Russian submarine was intercepted as it cruised towards the English Channel, while in October others were detected in the Irish Sea.

A defence analyst at the respected Henry Jackson Society, a security think tank, said: ‘Sadly, because of certain cuts, we don’t have the capacity to monitor Russian activity constantly. There is a security gap and doubtless the Russians are testing our reflexes and responses… We are now reliant until at least 2019 on our NATO allies to help us with the patrolling.’

Britain has not had its own submarine tracking aircraft since the Ministry of Defence scrapped its Nimrod maritime reconnaissance spy planes in 2010.

In November, last year, Downing Street announced the purchase of a fleet of Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft, but they are not expected to enter service until 2020. The UK has diminished its conventional war-fighting capabilities as it has faced the challenges of cyber warfare and terrorism. Intelligence initially suggested there would be no threat, but it has since transpired that there is a threat and from a rather traditional source. It will take time, once again, in building up our military capabilities.

At least twice in the past year a Russian submarine has been suspected of attempting to track one of Britain’s Clyde-based Vanguard-class submarines carrying Trident nuclear missiles in order to obtain the ‘acoustic signature’ it emits as it moves. Once this is obtained it can then be deduced where they are and tracked.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: ‘The Royal Navy maintains a vigilant watch in international and territorial waters and is always ready to keep Britain safe from potential threats. We do not comment on operational detail, for obvious security reasons.’

Dr Julian Lewis, the Tory Chairman of the Commons defence committee, said: ‘We should look on Russia as an adversary but not an enemy. By showing Russia that we are strong, we can ensure it decides it is not worth its while becoming our enemy.’

OPINION

Since the Berlin Wall fell, Europe’s leaders have wound down their armed forces, apparently thinking the world has changed so much that a major war is no longer possible. If only this were true.

Indeed, as Russia’s Vladimir Putin experiments with cyber warfare, flexing his military muscles in Syria and the Baltic – and daily probes the Royal Navy’s defences and our air defences – the threat of attack remains ever with us.

Donald Trump has sent a strong message that we can no longer rely on America to go on bearing its disproportionate share of defending Europe through NATO. Mr Trump wants other NATO countries to be contributing far more. Just five countries in the alliance meet the minimum 2% of GDP on defence spending.

Add the terrorist threat and there could surely be no more insane moment to countenance a real-terms cut in our defence spending.

Yet this is happening, as the weaker pound and creative accounting at the MoD threaten to reduce our frontline capability.

We drop our guard at our mortal peril.

Standard
European Union, NATO, Russia, Turkey, United States

Russia and Turkey’s rapprochement

RUSSIA/TURKEY

Intro: For Russia, this is an opportunity to drive a hard wedge between Turkey, NATO and the EU

The unfolding diplomatic rapprochement between Russia and Turkey is likely to become a significant challenge for the European Union and NATO. For centuries now, these two countries have remained implacably opposed to each other. Efforts just a decade ago to forge a strategic partnership were curtailed by the civil war that has been raging in Syria. With Moscow clearly propping up Bashar al-Assad, Ankara either stayed out or implicitly supported his enemies. In more recent times, relations hit another low point last November when Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber near the Syrian border for violating Turkey’s airspace. Russia imposed sanctions and the damage to relations between the two countries seemed irreparable.

But even before events last month in which an attempted military coup failed, President Erdogan had decided he could no longer afford a cold war of attrition and stalemate with Moscow and began making overtures with the Kremlin. The putsch appears to have expedited matters: yesterday Mr Erdogan met with Vladimir Putin to agree the normalising of relations. This will send shock waves through the EU at a time of unprecedented uncertainty.

For Russia, this is an opportunity to drive a hard wedge between Turkey, NATO and the EU and will help to abate Russian anger over the jet incident. President Putin must recognise in Mr Erdogan a leader cut from the same cloth – a democratically elected nationalist who has been behaving more like a despot.

Mr Erdogan’s ruthless purge of opponents after the thwarted coup has alarmed EU leaders who had encouraged Ankara to believe it could join the European Union at some future point and had pledged to introduce visa-free access for Turkish travellers to the Schengen area. No date, however, has ever been set or given for either and several EU countries have made it abundantly clear they would veto Turkey’s accession citing its human rights record, loss of press freedom and other economic shortcomings. Angela Merkel of Germany has been desperate to keep both options open in order to stop Turkey reneging on a deal to keep Syrian refugees from crossing into Europe.

But Mr Erdogan seems to have been cooling towards Europe, none of whose leaders have been to Ankara since the failed coup. Turkey’s leader is seeking alliances elsewhere. Improving relations between Russia and Turkey will have significant implications both for policy on Syria and for NATO itself. The US nuclear base at Incirlik is a key part of western defences, but, if Turkey were to leave its loss would be a serious blow to the organisation.

These developments will be concerning for European leaders. But for the Russian president this is a chance to cause fresh consternation in the capitals of Europe and in Washington. Mr Putin seems certain to grab a gift horse that couldn’t have come at a better time for his own interests.

Standard