NATO Foreign Ministerial to focus on Ukraine, Afghanistan, Wales Summit

The ministerial will start with a working dinner which will touch on the summit agenda, notably the Alliance’s Open Door Policy and the progress of the four countries which currently aspire to join NATO. A more detailed discussion on the summit will be held on Wednesday (25 June 2014) during the first working session of the North Atlantic Council. Foreign ministers will review measures the Alliance has taken in wake of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and the work being done to develop a Readiness Action Plan to enhance the defence of Allies.

Ways to strengthen the transatlantic bond between North American and European Allies will also be discussed and ministers will look at how to strengthen NATO’s ties with its global partners. They will consider two partnership initiatives. One is to enhance NATO’s ability to provide defence capacity building assistance to partners and other countries which might request it. The other plan offers some of NATO’s most active partners an increased of practical cooperation and political dialogue.

In a separate session, NATO ministers will meet with the new Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin to discuss the crisis and how the Alliance can further support Ukraine, including the possible creation of trust funds to support defence capacity building.

The ministers will conclude their talks with a meeting on Afghanistan with ISAF partners and the Deputy Afghan Foreign Minister Ershad Ahmadi. The United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Jan Kubis and the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton have also been invited. The foreign ministers are expected to endorse the operations plan for the NATO-led post-2014 mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan forces during the meeting. That mission will only be launched if the appropriate legal arrangements are signed in due course.