U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken commented on a proposal for a five-year, $100 billion NATO fund to help Ukraine and greater involvement of the Alliance in coordinating arms deliveries to Ukraine, indicating that the United States and NATO allies are talking about what they can do to give Ukraine the resources it needs. He said this at a press conference on April 4, writes UNN.
Details
"First, in terms of funding for Ukraine, the most important and most urgent thing is the passage of a supplemental bill (in the U.S. Congress - ed.). This will be the most immediate and most important source of additional funds that Ukraine needs to help it continue to defend itself against Russian aggression," Blinken said in response to a question about the viability of the proposal for a 100bn-dollar NATO fund.
"Beyond that, of course, we're talking to our NATO allies and partners about what they're doing, what we can do, what the Alliance can do to make sure that Ukraine has the resources it needs, both immediately to respond to a critical situation now and in the future. Because as we work to address these immediate challenges, we are also working together to build Ukraine's strength for the future, a strength that deter aggression and defend against it if necessary," the US Secretary of State pointed out.
Blinken added that "more than 30 countries have signed or are in the process of negotiating and signing bilateral agreements with Ukraine." "And we ourselves - the United States - are working on our own bilateral agreement. But we're also looking at the role that NATO can and should play in the long term in supporting Ukraine. And that's an ongoing discussion that we'll have in the coming weeks, and I believe you'll see something at the summit when we gather in Washington in July," he said.
Asked whether the U.S. is among the allies that have committed to continue to search their own stockpiles for additional air defense assets for Ukraine, Blinken indicated that as far as "equipment stockpiles, material stockpiles, yes - one of the things we talked about today was that everybody is going to go back and take an immediate and careful look at what can be made available." "We know what the needs are: air defense, artillery, ammunition. So I believe, based on what I heard today, that everybody, including the United States, is going to step up and, if necessary, redouble their efforts to find the resources that Ukraine continues to need," the U.S. secretary of state said.