NATO head Jens Stoltenberg will ask allies to allocate at least €40 billion euros per year to finance military assistance to Ukraine.
The Reuters agency writes about this, citing its source, at a time when the foreign ministers of NATO countries gathered for negotiations in Prague.
€40 billion in aid to Ukraine from NATO countries
It is noted that Stoltenberg had not previously publicly proposed this figure, but NATO officials previously mentioned the amount as €100 billion over five years, or €20 billion euros annually.
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With uncertainty over future US support for Ukraine due to Donald Trump's possible return to the White House, foreign ministers will discuss ways to put military aid to Ukraine on a stronger long-term footing on Friday.
The talks will focus on discussing the details of a package of measures to support Ukraine, which should be agreed upon at the NATO summit in Washington on July 9-11 and which will also include changes in the organization of arms and ammunition supplies.
— We need to maintain the current level of support to at least provide the predictability Ukraine needs for as long as necessary — the NATO source said, adding that the allies have provided about €40 billion a year since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
NATO military financing plan for Ukraine
Stoltenberg proposed that NATO take over the coordination of international military assistance to Ukraine, which would allow the alliance to play a more direct role in the war against a Russian invasion without involving its own forces.
According to Reuters, NATO will take over coordination of arms supplies and donations from the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group, better known as Ramstein.
The move is widely seen as an attempt to provide some “protection from Trump” by bringing coordination under the NATO umbrella.
But, writes Reuters, diplomats acknowledge that such a move would have a limited effect, since the United States is the dominant NATO power and supplies Ukraine with most of its weapons. So if Washington wants to cut Western aid to Kyiv, it can still do it.
NATO will also have to overcome resistance from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has made it clear that his country will not take part in the new effort.
