NATO’s coordination role in Ukraine support to be operational ‘in coming months’

2 months ago 11

The transfer of oversight of military supplies, training and reform of Ukraine’s armed forces into NATO hands is to be completed “in the coming months” as alliance leaders rush to protect the country’s support from governments that may criticise it in the future.

On Wednesday (10 July), NATO members endorsed the Alliance’s role in coordinating training and supplies to Ukraine as part of efforts to bring the country closer to membership.

To this end, they created a platform called NATO Security Assistance and Training to Ukraine (NSATU), which NATO officials told reporters, will be put in place “over the next several months, in a way that has no disruption over the efforts.”

Placing the coordination platform in NATO’s hands is part of the Alliance’s ongoing efforts to provide Ukraine with long-term sustainable support as it remains outgunned and outmanned on the battlefield.

“This conflict is not likely to be over any time soon,” said a senior NATO official.

NSATU’s tasks currently lie in the hands of ad hoc structures set up by the US in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine and will be moved or not coordinated in the coming months.

Until then, the coordination of assistance will remain in the hands of the SAGU (Security Assistance Group for Ukraine) and its International Board of Coordination Center (IBCC), which are linked to the so-called Ramstein format, where more than 50 countries meet regularly.

Bilateral or multilateral training missions for the Ukrainian armed forces are now in the hands of the countries, such as the British-led Interflex, the EU military assistance mission (EUMAM), and the Dutch-led fighter jet pilot training for F-16s.

The decision to create NSATU was taken “to try to cohere these efforts a little bit to try to bring more consistency and more predictability and more coherence to everything for the future,” the NATO official said.

Another reason that NATO diplomats admit only on the condition of anonymity is the need to insulate support for Ukraine from any future governments that might challenge it.

The decision to create NSATU was taken by 31 allies – with Hungary opting out – and any further decision to change its mandate will require the consensus of all 31 allies, the official added.

The NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR) will lead the transition from the ephemeral formation to the NSATU coordination platform. A three-star general will lead NSATU and report to SACEUR.

In concrete terms, NATO will coordinate with donor governments what equipment to send Ukraine based on their needs, and deliveries will be made to hubs on the eastern flank in Poland, Slovakia and Romania, the official said.

As a second task, NSATU will also coordinate training activities.

A third task – which was not part of the previous structures – is the future development of the Ukrainian armed forces.

This means that, as part of its coordination work, NATO staff will take into account the needs of the future Ukrainian Army as it modernises and joins the Alliance, making its forces more interoperable and able to work with the armies of NATO members.

“We work more closely with the Ukrainian armed forces, including to a new NATO-Ukraine joint analysis, training and education centre in Poland and by deepening our cooperation on innovation and defence industrial production,” the Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday (11 July).

NATO’s new stance

For the past two years, NATO has refused to be involved in anything related to providing lethal support to Ukraine.

The fact that the war is ongoing and that support must be sustained has changed this attitude, the diplomats added.

NATO will not deploy forces in Ukraine, move equipment into Ukraine, track its movement across the border or get involved in procurement, the NATO official said.

“This will not make NATO party to the conflict, but it will enhance Ukraine’s self-defence,” Stoltenberg insisted ahead of the summit, anticipating Russia’s future comments that the military alliance was changing its stance.

[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski/Daniel Eck]