Nato reinvigorated by Ukraine war response

Turkey’s agreement to drop its opposition to the Nato membership bids of Sweden and Finland paves the way for the alliance to grow and highlights how Russia’s war in Ukraine is reshaping the post-Cold War order and reinvigorating trans-Atlantic ties.

As Nato opened a three-day summit in Madrid yesterday, the leaders of Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed a memorandum confirming that Turkey will support the Nordic nations’ paths to accession.

The news of Turkey’s turnaround, after a month of opposition, has drawn an even greater spotlight to a summit expected to focus on Ukraine’s urgent need for more advanced weapons as its fighters are hammered in the east by Russian forces.

Nato leaders are also expected to address longer-term strategic questions raised by the Kremlin’s aggression and China’s global ambitions.

The sudden announcement followed a commitment by G7 leaders earlier in the day that their countries would ‘‘urgently’’ explore ways to impose price caps on Russian oil and gas to hurt Moscow’s ability to finance the war. But they stopped short of agreeing to new energy sanctions.

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced earlier that the number of Nato high-readiness forces would increase to more than 300,000 troops from 40,000 in response to Russia’s war. The expansion is part of what he called the ‘‘biggest overhaul of our collective defence and deterrence since the Cold War’’.

The Madrid summit would be closely watched not only for news on weaponry but as a sign of Western resolve over Ukraine, said retired US Army Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, a former commander of US Army Europe.

‘‘The Russians are just so confident that we cannot stay together, that we can’t sustain what we are doing through a long, hot summer.’’

Sweden and Finland are close Nato partners who remained officially military non-aligned until Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine pushed them towards the 30-member military alliance. After they applied last month, Turkey blocked accession talks over what Ankara said was the two countries’ support for Kurdish militant groups.

Stoltenberg said the alliance was meeting ‘‘in the midst of the most serious security crisis we have faced since the Second World War’’.

Just nine of Nato’s 30 members currently meet the alliance’s target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defence.

Nato leaders are also set to publish the alliance’s new Strategic Concept, its once-a-decade set of priorities and goals.

Russia is set to be declared Nato’s No 1 threat, but the document will also set out the alliance’s approach on issues from cybersecurity to climate change – and the growing economic and military reach of China.

For the first time, the leaders of Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand are attending the summit as guests, a reflection of the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific region. Stoltenberg said China was not Nato’s adversary but posed ‘‘challenges to our values, to our interest and to our security’’.

Earlier, G7 leaders said they would instruct ministers to look for ways to impose caps on the price of Russian oil and gas. The goal is to hurt Russia financially and bring down surging energy prices globally.

Some countries that are arming and backing Ukraine in its defence against Russia are simultaneously sending billions of dollars to Moscow in energy payments.

Meanwhile, surging energy prices have blunted the financial impact of countries cutting their imports from Russia.

The oil price cap is complicated by the fact oil is sold on the open market and Russia could look elsewhere for buyers. Russia could also circumvent the effort by taking its oil supply offmarket and crashing the world’s energy markets.