Iran Press/ Europe: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the ministers reviewed the plans - the first since the end of the Cold War and given impetus by Russia's operation in Ukraine - at a two-day meeting in Brussels and were moving closer to agreeing on them.
But one diplomat said Turkey had blocked approval over the wording of geographical locations, including with regard to Cyprus. There was still an opportunity to find a solution before the NATO summit in mid-July in Vilnius, the diplomat added.
Turkey's diplomatic mission to NATO said it would be wrong to comment on a secret NATO document, adding only that "the usual process of consultations and evaluation among allies is continuing."
The so-called regional plans comprise thousands of pages of secret military plans that will detail how the alliance would respond to the Russian operation in Ukraine.
The drawing up of the documents signifies a fundamental shift. NATO had seen no need for large-scale defense plans for decades as it fought smaller wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and felt certain post-Soviet Russia no longer posed an existential threat.
Europe's bloodiest war since 1945 has been raging just beyond its borders in Ukraine with the alliance now warning that it must have all planning in place well before a conflict with Moscow might erupt.
NATO will also give nations guidance on how to upgrade their forces and logistics.
"While regional plans were not formally endorsed today, we anticipate these plans will be part of a series of deliverables for the Vilnius Summit in July," a senior U.S. official told Reuters.
The NATO chief has earlier said the support of the Western military alliance for Ukraine is making a difference on the battlefield as Kiev embarks on its counter-offensive against Russia.
Russian forces began their full-scale operation in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Since then, Western officials estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, millions of Ukrainians have fled and the country has sustained tens of billions of dollar's worth of damage.
NATO members are making their utmost effort to complete a plan to provide long-term support to Ukraine. That's as Russia has time and again cited NATO's eastward expansion as a reason for its military operation against Ukraine.
Moscow has also warned that NATO's support for Ukraine will prolong the war and risk a direct confrontation with the alliance.
224
Read More:
New world emerging from West's geopolitical war on Russia: Lavrov
Nearly 200 settlements in Ukraine affected by Kakhovka dam destruction: PM
