NATO summit opens in Vilnius amid protests, criticisms

VILNIUS - Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) gathered here on Tuesday for a two-day summit that seeks to address "the most pressing challenges" facing the alliance amid protests and growing criticisms.

Strengthening defense and bridging differences on the Ukraine conflict are on top of the summit's agenda. The alliance aims to adopt three regional defense plans backed by 300,000 troops on high readiness.

NATO also wants its member states to agree on "a more ambitious" defense investment pledge to spend a minimum of 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) annually on defense. After "nine consecutive years of increased defense spending" since 2014, only 11 of the alliance's 31 members have reached or exceeded this target.

On Wednesday, the inaugural meeting of the new NATO-Ukraine Council will be held with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in attendance. NATO members are still divided on how to put Ukraine on a path to membership.

Ahead of the summit, protests against NATO have been held in several European countries, while politicians and experts criticized the alliance's expansion and its impacts.

Pointing out that the summit will see "calls for further escalation" of the Ukraine conflict, the Stop the War coalition organized a day of protests across Britain on Saturday, calling for peace. In Paris, a march against the military alliance drew hundreds of people, with many calling for France to withdraw from NATO.

Biden visit to UK

US President Joe Biden had a meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Downing Street in London and a discussion on climate change with King Charles III at Windsor Castle on Monday, before Biden and Sunak left Britain to attend the NATO summit.

Biden described relations with the UK as "rock solid" during talks with Sunak. They also discussed US' agreement to supply controversial cluster bombs to Ukraine. Sunak said on July 8 that the UK discourages the use of cluster bombs.

Christopher Bovis, a law professor at the University of Hull, said the US presidential visit to the UK reveals the need to reiterate that NATO is a solid alliance for defence and security, and that US and UK are on the same page when it comes to the Russia-Ukraine military conflict.

However, the visit reveals two more facets, Bovis said.

"The first is that the United States unilaterally decided to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine against pretty much of the rest of the members of the alliance. This is a unique equation in its diplomatic and political spectrums," he said.

The reason for agreeing the supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine appears that the counter-offensive of Ukraine against Russian occupation is not progressing as it was originally intended, Bovis said. This fact and the slow absorbance of the defence funds available to Ukraine by NATO allies, including the United States, is not satisfactory.

Cluster munitions are a game changer in any war theater, not for their lethality but mostly for the serious military outcomes which follow of their utilisation. This is also the reason for the internal disagreement amongst NATO allies to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, Bovis said.

The second facet of Biden's visit to the UK for a meeting with the King is to reinforce the US-UK relations, Bovis said.

"The US and in particular Biden have their attention fixed on a post-conflict era and the possibility of admitting Ukraine into the NATO alliance," he said.

"Many European members of NATO favour such scenario and they will make their views heard in the NATO meeting in Vilnius this week.

"However, US is reluctant to admit Ukraine as a full NATO member, on the assumption that such move will jeopardize any short-term seizure of hostilities and any long-term peaceful existence between Ukraine and Russia, after the end of the current conflict. UK will play an important role in such construction of geo-policies, and President Biden's quest is to enlist every possible structure of governance in the UK which could facilitate such outcome."

Wang Mingjie in London contributed to this story.