DefenceTalkFinland’s foreign minister said Wednesday he hoped Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO ratification process would be completed ahead of the alliance’s Vilnius summit in July, despite a row with Turkey. Ankara on Tuesday postponed NATO accession talks with Sweden and Finland, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Stockholm for allowing weekend protests that included the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/finnish-fm-hopes-for-nato-ratification-by-july-79765/

DefenceTalkGermany’s defence minister said Tuesday that allies could start training Ukrainian forces to use Leopard tanks, as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg predicted that a decision on their delivery would be made “soon”. Germany has been under intense international pressure in recent weeks to allow the export of powerful German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/germany-says-allies-can-start-training-ukrainians-on-tanks-79761/

DefenceTalkAirbus has signed a contract with the Belgian Ministry of Defence to provide tactical satellite communications services for a 15 year period. The Armed Forces will utilize channels of the Airbus UHF (Ultra High Frequency) military communications hosted payload on-board a commercial telecommunications satellite manufactured by Airbus. “With this new UHF payload, Airbus will be […]https://www.defencetalk.com/airbus-to-provide-satellite-communications-for-belgian-armed-forces-79757/

DefenceTalkTop scientists and security experts moved the “Doomsday Clock” forward on Tuesday to just 90 seconds to midnight — signaling an increased risk to humanity’s survival from the nuclear shadow over the Ukraine conflict and the growing climate crisis. The new timing of the clock set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is closer […]https://www.defencetalk.com/doomsday-clock-moves-closest-ever-to-midnight-79749/

DefenceTalkTurkey on Tuesday postponed NATO accession talks with Sweden and Finland, further denting the Nordic neighbors’ hopes of joining the Western defence alliance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ankara announced its decision one day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at Sweden for allowing weekend protests that included the burning of the Koran […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkey-postpones-nato-talks-with-sweden-finland-79745/

DefenceTalkFormer US secretary of state Mike Pompeo wrote in a book published Tuesday that India and Pakistan came close to nuclear war in 2019 and that US intervention prevented escalation. “I do not think the world properly knows just how close the India-Pakistan rivalry came to spilling over into a nuclear conflagration in February 2019,” […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pompeo-says-us-averted-nuclear-war-between-india-pakistan-79741/

DefenceTalkEU foreign ministers agreed Monday to spend an extra 500 million euros ($540 million) from their common coffers on arms for Ukraine, diplomats said, as Kyiv pleads for heavier weapons. The accord will take the total committed to supplying Ukraine’s military from common EU spending to 3.6 billion euros, which is separate from national spending […]https://www.defencetalk.com/eu-agrees-extra-500-mn-euros-to-arm-ukraine-79737/

DefenceTalkTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Sweden on Monday that it should not expect his backing to join NATO following the burning of the Koran outside Ankara’s embassy in Stockholm. Erdogan’s furious comments further distanced the prospects of Sweden and Finland joining the Western defence alliance before Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary polls in May. Turkey […]https://www.defencetalk.com/erdogan-warns-sweden-on-nato-after-koran-burning-79733/

DefenceTalkBelarus said Monday that joint air force drills with Russia began on its territory, amid concerns Minsk was being dragged into the Ukraine conflict to fight alongside Moscow. Minsk’s defence ministry said “joint tactical flight drills of aviation units” from Belarus and Russia had started. The drills will last until February 1, the ministry said […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-belarus-launch-joint-air-force-drills-79726/

DefenceTalkPresident Vladimir Putin on Monday slammed Kyiv’s “destructive” policies and growing Western arms supplies to Ukraine in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin said. Putin said Kyiv was pursuing “a destructive line” and that it had “bet on the intensification of hostilities with the support of Western sponsors, who […]https://www.defencetalk.com/putin-slams-growing-western-arms-deliveries-to-ukraine-79722/