NATO and its four Indo-Pacific partners — Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea — will launch four new joint projects relating to Ukraine, artificial intelligence, disinformation and cybersecurity, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.
Speaking at an event in Washington before the start of a NATO summit commemorating the 75th anniversary of the transatlantic alliance, Sullivan underscored that ties between the United States, Europe and the Indo-Pacific region have never been more important or more integrated than at present.
“What happens in Europe impacts the Indo-Pacific. What happens in the Indo-Pacific impacts Europe. We see this every day,” he said, citing security challenges such as North Korea providing ballistic missiles for Russia to use against Ukraine.
Without going into detail about the four initiatives, he said each will be different while sharing the same primary goal to “harness the unique strengths of highly capable democracies to address shared global challenges.”
Top agenda items at the three-day summit include additional support for Ukraine and broader cooperation with the Indo-Pacific partners against the backdrop of China’s military rise.
But U.S. President Joe Biden, who is hosting the event, is arguably drawing more attention as doubts have mounted at home and abroad over his physical and mental fitness to run for a second term in the November election.
Following Biden’s shaky performance in a television debate against his predecessor Donald Trump on June 27, the world’s media and officials from various countries are almost certain to be watching every word and deed of the 81-year-old incumbent closely.
