Roman Pilipei/AFP/Getty Images
On May 15, 2024, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, soldiers from the Ukrainian 92nd Assault Brigade fired a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher at Russian military positions in the Kharkiv region.
CNN
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NATO defense ministers are expected to finalize a deal on Friday that would give the alliance greater control over security assistance and training for the Ukrainian military, an effort some officials say is intended to expand European responsibility for assistance amid uncertainty over the outcome of this fall’s U.S. presidential election.
The possibility that former President Donald Trump, who has long been skeptical of NATO and U.S. military support for Europe, will win the election is a “big part” of why NATO is moving forward with the integration plan, one official familiar with the discussions said. It’s also a way to give Europe more responsibility for training and equipping Ukraine, given the uncertainty about the extent to which the U.S. will support the country in its post-election war against Russia, the official said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced the intention at a press conference on Thursday, saying, “NATO provides more than 99 percent of all military assistance to Ukraine, so it makes sense for NATO to play a larger role in these efforts.”
“This will put our assistance on a firmer footing, bring predictability to Kyiv and address both short-term and long-term needs,” Stoltenberg said.
U.S. defense officials and European diplomats added that the effort would be headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, under NATO command and led by a three-star general reporting to Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Chris Cavoli, who also serves as commander of U.S. European Command.
Stoltenberg said earlier on Thursday that the “whole idea” of the new framework was to “minimize the risk of gaps or delays,” especially after a month-long delay in providing additional US security assistance actually hurt Ukraine’s ability to confront Russia.
“The whole idea is to minimize the risk of gaps or delays like we saw earlier this year, where gaps and delays in the provision of military support from not only the United States but our European allies made a difference on the battlefield,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons why Russia has now gone on the offensive in Ukraine and is now able to actually occupy more ground.”
Stoltenberg also said Thursday that he had proposed NATO allies provide Ukraine with at least 40 billion euros a year “for as long as necessary,” an amount he said is roughly the same as what member states have already provided annually since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. He said Ukraine needs the annual funds “to ensure that it has the resources to repel any Russian aggression against its country.”
CNN has previously reported on options to secure long-term support for Ukraine, with a senior European diplomat describing it at the time as “future-proofing”.
A senior Pentagon official told reporters on Thursday that it was important to ensure that capabilities and forces assisting Ukraine were done “with NATO interoperability and integration in mind.”
“Right now it’s pretty ad-hoc,” the official said. “One country throws up their hand and says, ‘We’ll do an artillery coalition,’ and another says, ‘We’ll do a drone coalition.’ Who is actually sitting down and planning these things and making sure that the forces that are being built make sense for what Ukraine needs to deter and defend against? Who is looking at, for example, how interoperable the forces will be with the Polish military?”
Earlier this week, plans to centralize allied military support for Ukraine overcame a major hurdle when Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his country would not join the plan but would not veto it.
“The prime minister assured me that Hungary will not oppose these efforts and will enable other allies to move forward, and confirmed that Hungary will continue to fully fulfil its NATO obligations,” Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
Aiding Ukraine remains a top priority as the Ukrainian Defence Liaison Group and NATO defence ministers meet in Brussels and the G7 summit meets in Italy, where leaders have agreed to lend Ukraine money secured by profits from frozen Russian investments.
CNN previously reported that the loans, worth roughly $50 billion in total, are due to be repaid by the end of 2024, before the new US administration takes over.
The United States and Ukraine are expected to sign a long-term security pact at the G7 summit after months of negotiations, but it could ultimately be scrapped by the new administration.
Correction: This story has been corrected to correctly state that the new NATO effort will be overseen by a three-star general and headquartered in Germany.
