For NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, it is still too early to make a statement about the agreement recently reached between Turkey and Russia regarding northern Syria. This issue will be extensively discussed today and tomorrow at the semi-annual NATO summit, being held this time in London.
Turkey has agreed with Russia that both countries will jointly control northern Syria, now that the United States has withdrawn its ‘boots on the ground.’ “I think it is a bit too early to judge the consequences of the statement, the agreement between President Erdogan and President Putin,” Stoltenberg said during a preview of the meeting of defense ministers.
The rapprochement of NATO ally Turkey with Russia is causing great concern among other NATO countries, partly because Turkey had already entered northern Syria on its own initiative without first consulting the other partners.
Stoltenberg tried to ease tensions and once again welcomed the recent agreement Turkey had reached with the United States on a ceasefire following the Turkish incursion into northern Syria. According to Stoltenberg, that agreement led to a significant reduction in violence. He called the agreement “something we can build on.”
So far, NATO has not condemned the military operation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the Kurdish militia in Syria. Those Kurds were NATO allies against the terrorist group Islamic State (IS). Stoltenberg refused last week to condemn the Turkish intervention.
The NATO summit will also be dominated by recent (renewed) criticism from France towards the United States. French President Macron said European countries would be better off without the US in NATO. Macron even called NATO “brain dead.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel responded by stating that she does not share Macron’s views on NATO. “NATO remains a cornerstone of our security,” Merkel said. Although Macron is satisfied with communication between NATO countries’ armies and joint operations, in his view the time has come to acknowledge that NATO “has a strategic and political problem.”