NATO defense ministers, who met on Thursday, were keen to stress that support for Ukraine remains at the top of their agenda after weeks of debate on Arctic security, culminating in the launch of a new alliance activity in the High North.
At Thursday's defense ministerial meeting in Brussels, alliance ministers broadly praised the launch of the enhanced vigilance activity "Arctic Sentry" - announced the day before by Secretary General Mark Rutte - to increase NATO's presence in the High North.
The new multi-domain activity will unite the activities of 32 allies in the region under a comprehensive operational strategy.
This will include Denmark's "Arctic Endurance," a series of multi-domain exercises designed to enhance allies' ability to operate in the region, and Norway's upcoming "Cold Response" exercise, where troops from across the alliance have already begun arriving.
This had been a key demand from US President Donald Trump, whose threats to forcibly take Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory belonging to NATO ally Denmark, had put the very existence of the 70-year-old alliance at risk.
But they also sought to emphasize that Ukraine, whose civilian infrastructure has faced heavy Russian bombing in recent months, depriving many people of electricity and heating in sub-zero temperatures, remains their number one priority.
Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, Iceland's defense minister, warned against any change in focus.
"We cannot allow ourselves to have less focus on the eastern flank," she told reporters upon arriving at NATO headquarters, describing Ukraine as a country fighting "for the freedom and sovereignty of Europe."
For Reykjavik, Arctic Sentry and support for Kiev are not competing priorities, but parallel responsibilities, with a "just and lasting peace" in Ukraine at the center of European security.
Similarly, Antti Häkkänen, the defense minister of Finland, another Arctic country, called on Western allies to redouble their pressure on Russia, both economically and militarily.
"Now is the crucial time to continue to support Ukraine even more and to show (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that the West is not backing down," he said.
The minister from Estonia, one of NATO's most vocal opponents of Russia, welcomed the launch of Arctic Sentry, but insisted that it "does not take the focus away from Ukraine, from the eastern flank."
Hanno Pevkur, echoing the sentiment of his Finnish counterpart, also called for more pressure on Moscow, saying that "it's not just the battlefield where Russia needs to exert pressure. It's also the economy, it's also society."
And German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius argued that while NATO must "orient our radar systems in all directions," as Russia seeks confrontation "in many parts of the world," including the Arctic, "the focus will certainly remain on NATO's eastern flank."
Pistorius described Russia's ongoing attacks on Ukraine as "terrorism against the civilian population" and called for an urgent increase in support. /Telegrafi/
