NATO’s top military officials came together in Brussels on 19 May for a meeting of the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session, one of the Alliance’s most important military-level formats. The meeting comes at a critical moment for European security, as the war in Ukraine continues to shape NATO’s defence planning, force posture and long-term strategic priorities.

Around 3,000 elite troops from the US, the UK and 22 other countries are taking part in NATO’s largest special forces exercise ever held in Europe amid growing security concerns and uncertainty over future American military support.

On 21–22 May 2026, the Swedish city of Helsingborg will become one of the key diplomatic centres of Euro-Atlantic politics. NATO foreign ministers are set to gather there for a ministerial-level meeting of the North Atlantic Council — an event that carries far greater significance than a regular diplomatic consultation. It will be the first major NATO foreign ministers’ meeting hosted by Sweden since the country joined the Alliance, and it will come at a time when Europe’s security architecture is undergoing one of the deepest transformations since the end of the Cold War.

Passengers at Muscat’s Seeb International Airport faced a fresh round of cancellations and long delays on Sunday as disruptions affecting Gulf Air and Qatar Airways rippled across key routes linking Muscat with Bahrain, Doha, Cairo, Luxembourg and other major cities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday in Munich, Germany that Ukraine is ready for an agreement that will bring real peace.

China is considering the possibility of creating another “Middle Corridor” to reinforce the current Trans Caspian route, said Wang Huiyao, founder and president of China’s leading non governmental think tank, the Center for China and Globalization, during a panel discussion titled “Open Corridor Politics? Deepening Trans Caspian Cooperation” at the Munich Security Conference.

It makes no sense for Europe to start negotiations with Russia, as the United States is currently doing, said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Munich Security Conference.

Editor’s note: Seymur Mammadov is a special commentator for News.Az and the director of the international expert club EurAsiaAz. The article reflects the author’s personal opinion and does not necessarily represent the views of News.Az.