NATO wants to ensure that Ukraine receives financial support over several years. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced this at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday.
Wednesday 3 April at 11:53
– Ukraine has critical needs. Any delay will have consequences on the battlefield, Stoltenberg said.
– We see how demanding the situation is for Ukraine right now, he added.
The NATO summits are now internally discussing a proposal from Stoltenberg to set aside up to 100 billion dollars for Ukraine in a fund.
The fund will secure contributions to Ukraine’s war against Russia and support future NATO membership for a period of five years, according to information in the Financial Times.
In plain text, this means that the fund intends to ensure that the support reaches Ukraine, even if Donald Trump wins the US election.
The fund is also a response to months of deadlock in the US Congress, where the Republican majority is blocking new contributions to Ukraine.
Predictably
– I cannot go into details about the proposal. But we are discussing ways to make our support to Ukraine more predictable and robust. Ukraine must become less dependent on short-term contributions, said the NATO chief.
– The signal to Moscow must be that they cannot wait for us on the battlefield, but sit down at the negotiating table and find a lasting solution so that Ukraine survives as an independent state, he added.
More Ukraine support
VG has previously reported on two other specific proposals that are up for discussion between the capitals on both sides of the Atlantic, and which will receive their final form at the NATO summit in Washington in July:
- It is relevant that Nato takes over the responsibility for coordinating the military support in the contact group for Ukraine, a task which until now has been led by the USA with around 50 countries in and outside Nato as contributors.
- Several major NATO countries are now entering into agreements with detailed security assurances directly with Ukraine. It is clarified that these are not guarantees that NATO will come to Ukraine’s aid, but assurances of future support.
– The reason we want to do this is the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine. I am sure that NATO’s member states will contribute more support, and support in the long run, said Stoltenberg.
Anniversary
– A strengthened coordination role for NATO could contribute to better burden sharing between the NATO countries, and that the support is seen in the context of the capacity building that is already underway under NATO’s auspices, says Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide in a statement before the meeting of foreign ministers in NATO on Wednesday and Thursday.
On Thursday, the NATO meeting will mark that it is 75 years since the NATO pact was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949 by 12 countries, among them Norway.
According to internal cost distribution in NATO, Norway will cover 1.76 per cent of the alliance’s budget. If the Ukraine fund is to be filled with USD 100 billion, this means that Norway must contribute up to NOK 20 billion.
