Jens Stoltenberg News

The Economist has adjusted SIPRI’s estimates for military purchasing-power parity (PPP), with help from Peter Robertson, a researcher at the University of Western Australia. This makes defence budgets comparable with America’s: pay is adjusted for wage differences and operating costs for general price levels. (Equipment costs are left the same, as much of the kit is imported, and its relative quality is hard to judge.) The adjustments show that Ukraine’s budget increases (though not its total budget) will stretch further than Russia’s, for example, even though its budget grew at a slightly slower rate in nominal terms (see chart 1).

Former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he is returning to government in his native Norway as finance minister

NATO is in talks to deploy more nuclear weapons, taking them out of storage and placing them on standby, in the face of a growing threat from Russia and China, the head of the alliance said on Monday. Jens Stoltenberg told Britain's Telegraph newspaper that there were live consultations between members to use transparency around its nuclear arsenal as a deterrent. «I won't go into operational details about how many nuclear warheads should be operational and which should be stored, but we need to consult on these issues. That's exactly what we're doing,» he told the paper.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday that there were «no immediate military threat» against any member of the alliance, after the Kremlin has accused the West of potentially escalating the war in Ukraine.

Top NATO and European Union officials are urging industrialized nations to take quick and concrete steps to provide more air defense systems to Ukraine

NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday alliance members «are not providing Ukraine with enough ammunition» and the shortfall has allowed Russia to push Kyiv's forces back. «The Ukrainians are not running out of courage. They are running out of ammunition,» Stoltenberg told journalists. «Together, we have the capacity to provide Ukraine what it needs. Now we need to show the political will to do so.»

Sweden’s national flag has been raised at NATO headquarters to cement the Nordic country’s place as the 32nd member

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BRUSSELS—With a war raging nearby and the threat that a second Trump administration could pull the U.S. out of NATO, Europe has ratcheted up military spending. Arms manufacturers are working around-the clock, and new factories are going up to meet demand.

Donald Trump, is increasingly adopting a stance of disengagement. Trump has expressed doubts regarding aid to Ukraine and has been critical of NATO, often arguing that it is unfair for the United States to be obligated to defend other members of the 31-nation alliance. On Saturday, he took his stance further, stating that he would “encourage" Russia to attack any member nation that had not fulfilled its financial obligations.

State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that there was «no sense of fatigue» among NATO allies when it came to helping Ukraine. «We must and we will continue to support Ukraine,» he said after a NATO-Ukraine meeting in Brussels, adding that NATO allies were unanimous on this position and that he was also hearing continued support for Ukraine in both chambers of the U.S. Congress. Kyiv has been concerned that the Israel-Hamas war could divert international attention away from its efforts to defeat Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the West earlier on Wednesday to ramp up arms production. The European Union has delivered about 300,000 of its promised 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine so far, he said. «We need to create a Euro-Atlantic common area of defence industries,» Kuleba said before meeting the NATO foreign ministers, adding this would ensure both Ukraine's security and that of NATO countries themselves. Kyiv has recently engaged in a concerted drive to entice leading global arms manufacturers to set up operations in Ukraine, part of a bid to diversify its reliance on weapons and ammunition given by its allies. «It is important that our solidarity with Ukraine is not only demonstrated in words but also in deeds,» NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, urging allies to do more.

Estonia’s ruling Reform Party has reelected Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as its chairperson and confirmed her staying on as the Baltic nation's leader

The European Union’s executive has proposed to the member states a new package of sanctions targeting Russia

Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is signaling that she's willing to put her name forward for NATO’s top job when it falls vacant next year

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has submitted a protocol for Sweden's admission into NATO to Turkey's parliament for ratification, his office said Monday. Erdogan had been delaying ratification of Sweden's membership, accusing Stockholm of being too soft on Kurdish militants and other groups he considers to be security threats. Turkey also was angered by a series of Quran-burning protests in Sweden.

NATO will hold a major nuclear exercise next week, the alliance's chief said Thursday, in an announcement that came after Russia warned it would pull out of a global nuclear test ban agreement. NATO's «Steadfast Noon» exercise is held annually and runs for about a week. It involves fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear warheads but does not involve any live bombs.

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By Anne Kauranen and Terje Solsvik

Ukraine has hosted an international defense industry conference as part of a government effort to ramp up weapons production within the country to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion

Ukraine has hosted an international defense industry conference as part of a government effort to ramp up weapons production within the country to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the status of the war and needs of troops on Thursday, the day after Russia accused Ukraine's Western allies of helping plan and conduct last week's missile strike on the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters on the annexed Crimean Peninsula. Zelenskyy said Stoltenberg agreed to make efforts to get NATO members to help provide additional air defense systems to protect Ukraine's power plants and energy infrastructure that were badly damaged in relentless and deadly attacks by Russia last winter. He also reminded the secretary-general of the persistent attacks that often strike civilian areas, including 40 drone attacks overnight.