NEWPORT, Wales — NATO leaders are gathering in Wales Thursday to confront the threat of Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine and a host of unfinished business in Afghanistan.
President Barack Obama flew to Europe on Tuesday, stopping first in Estonia, where on Wednesday he sought to reassure NATO countries of the United States’ “unwavering” commitment to the alliance’s collective defense.
He and other leaders at the summit of NATO heads of state are meeting at a posh resort not far from the Welsh capital of Cardiff. Such events are typically well-scripted and offer few surprises, but this summit finds the alliance facing a myriad of security issues that challenge its capabilities and purpose.
After more than a decade of leading the international military mission in Afghanistan, NATO had been hoping to use this summit to highlight successes and reaffirm future commitments to Afghanistan’s stability, while symbolically pivoting to face the growing threats posed by conflicts closer to home in places like Ukraine.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force announced Thursday morning that another coalition soldier had died during an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan, underscoring the fact that more than 40,000 NATO and partner troops remain in the war-torn country.
The terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, represent the only time in the alliance’s 65-year history that it invoked the collective defense article of its charter. One legacy of that is the fact that Afghanistan is the first item on the agenda on Thursday afternoon.
The unresolved presidential election in that country means there won’t be an Afghan head of state to fete at the summit, complicating any messages of closure and undermining talk of future plans.
More immediately, the election dispute has left a critical agreement over future international troop levels unsigned. Financial donors have said a peaceful political transition is a prerequisite for the future aid upon which Afghanistan relies.
But the challenges in Afghanistan have been overshadowed by NATO’s Cold War foe, Russia and the advances of the Islamic State in Iraq. Later on Thursday, NATO leaders will move on to the Ukraine conflict and Russia’s involvement in the region, seen as one of the most pressing challenges to the alliance.
Member countries are expected to agree to take a more robust stance toward what is seen as Russian aggression. Among the plans are a rapid-response force that would position more troops and equipment closer to the hot spots along Russia’s western border.
During his stop in Estonia, Obama said NATO needs to enhance its readiness.
“That means we need to step up our defense planning, so we’re fully prepared for any threat to any ally,” he said. “It also means we need to have the infrastructure and facilities that can receive rapid reinforcements, including here in the Baltics. We need to enhance NATO’s Rapid Response Force so it can deploy even more quickly and not just react to threats, but also deter them.”
The final day of the summit on Friday will feature sessions examining the future of NATO, a topic also expected to be dominated by Ukraine as well as the bloody conflicts in the Middle East. Top American officials like Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry are expected to meet with their counterparts in closed-door discussions.
U.S. officials say even during the first session on Afghanistan, leaders will seek to use the experience there to lay the foundation for NATO’s future.
“We’re moving into a world in which NATO will be less salient in Afghanistan, but in which we want to capitalize on the lessons that we’ve learned, the partnerships that we’ve built — what we’re calling the interoperability platform that has emerged where NATO members have learned to work with a very wide range of countries across the globe,” Charles Kupchan, senior director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, told reporters during a conference call last week.
Smith.josh@stripes.com
Twitter: @joshjonsmith
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