NATO foreign ministers are expected to discuss in detail a package of support measures for Ukraine at a meeting in Prague on Friday (May 31) ahead of the July summit of the Alliance in Washington. This was reported by UNN with reference to Euractiv.
Details
Last month, NATO officials proposed to create a fund of 100 billion euros to support military supplies to Ukraine and to move the coordination of Western military support from the Ramstein format to the OF NATO.
The package was originally called a "NATO mission," but is likely to be amended to avoid the potentially misleading term "mission" which could imply an operation on the ground in Ukraine, an idea that has been strongly rejected by many leaders.
It is noted that the creation of such a fund was aimed at protecting Kyiv's long-term support from political changes in NATO governments. Governments in Europe could follow Hungary and Slovakia's reluctance to support Kyiv, and the US election could bring former Republican President Donald Trump back to the White House, which could jeopardize the flow of arms and other defense equipment.
NATO diplomats hope that this week's meeting in Prague will strengthen their position to make a decision at the summit in Washington. The 32 leaders are expected to approve a significant aid package for Ukraine and discuss Ukraine's desire to join the Alliance.
Several diplomats told Euractiv that NATO ministers will have to answer many difficult questions before agreeing to the fund, including the amount of the contribution for all member states and how it will be used.
“There is no 100 billion euro fund at the moment,” a NATO diplomat told Euractiv, adding that it remains to be seen how much each NATO member will contribute to the fund.
It is unclear whether the calculation will be based on the country's GDP or on its contributions to NATO's general spending budget.
Фон дер Ляйєн закликала підготуватися ЄС до можливої війни27.05.24, 00:45
According to the first option, the larger the GDP, the more money a country contributes, which puts the United States far ahead of the rest, and Germany and France far behind.
Estonia insisted that NATO allies should allocate 0.25% of their GDP to Ukraine to reach a sum of about 100 billion euros.
NATO ministers are also expected to express their views on the duration of the fund and on what it will be spent on in terms of defense equipment.
Until now, the Western military alliance has not provided direct lethal support to Ukraine, fearing that it would draw it into a direct war against Russia. However, since then, NATO's tone has changed, the newspaper writes.
Now, 32 NATO capitals are considering moving the coordination of bilateral military support for Ukraine into the NATO institutional framework, both on the territory of Ukraine and beyond.
Столтенберг: не маємо планів щодо розгортання військ НАТО в Україні27.05.24, 18:44