NATO allies aim to finalise Ukraine military support plan by July summit

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday (3 April) confirmed that alliance members will look into taking a greater coordination role in military aid deliveries to Ukraine as well as providing the country with new funding opportunities.

However, it is currently unclear what training and security assistance for Ukraine will look like, or what the “institutionalisation” of support means, as discussions are ongoing.

Stoltenberg, speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Foreign ministers in Brussels said, “There are different ways of ensuring that our support is less dependent on voluntary short-term offers and more on long-term commitments and that we have a stronger organisation that creates a more robust framework for our support.”

He added, “This not only includes the security assistance, but also the training and the finance.”

According to the NATO head, “Allies have agreed to move forward with planning the NATO role in coordinating security assistance and training.”

NATO members are considering transitioning the coordination of military deliveries to Ukraine from the ad hoc US-led Ramstein format to the NATO institutions, including a €100 billion fund to secure long-term political support, weathering any major political shift across the Western military alliance.

“We discussed how to put our support on a firmer and more enduring basis for the future (…) make no mistake, Ukraine needs a lot of support now and in the long term,” he stressed.

Though Stoltenberg spoke about the greater role of NATO in coordination, he did not comment on his specific proposal to prepare a €100 billion fund for Ukraine’s military aid, only mentioning “finance” as a way to better support.

“I do not go into the details of the proposals (…) I have discussed it with Ukraine, I have discussed it with Ukraine’s President Zelensky, and then we will also discuss it tomorrow,” with foreign ministers, the NATO head said, steering clear of anticipating the results of the discussion.

“The details will take shape in the weeks to come,” he added.

NATO members expect to discuss the proposal with the goal of adopting it at the leaders’ Washington summit on 9-11 July. Intense negotiations will continue, however, as many questions remain.

Details that need to be agreed on include which tasks NATO could take over, and whether those would include coordinating military aid and its delivery into Ukraine’s territory.

The timeline for delivering support, how many and which personnel to hire, and the costs involved also need to be decided.

The creation of a fund raises questions about its value, where the money will come from, and how it will be used.

[Edited by Rajnish Singh]

Read more with Euractiv