NATO is developing a plan to help Ukraine worth up to $100bn
The plan requires the agreement of all 32 members of the alliance and could take months to negotiate
NATO is working on a five-year aid package for Ukraine worth up to $100 billion that would be in place regardless of possible political changes in the West, including if Donald Trump wins the US election.
Source. This was reported by the Financial Times, cited by Interfax-Ukraine.
"This will be a Rubicon crossing. NATO will have a role in coordinating lethal support for Ukraine. I see signs of a consensus emerging," one diplomat with knowledge of the situation told the newspaper.
According to several diplomats, the so-called "Mission for Ukraine" proposal was put forward by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. According to the plan, the alliance would have to jointly coordinate the use of an estimated $100 billion to be provided by 32 member states.
If approved, the proposal would give NATO control over the US-led contact group on Ukraine and allow the alliance to manage the supply of lethal weapons to Kyiv, the newspaper explains.
The FT notes that Stoltenberg's plan comes as the US Congress has been unable to agree on a major aid package for Kyiv since last autumn.
At the same time, Stoltenberg's proposal, if implemented, would involve much more modest American financial participation than previously planned. Thus, according to one of the schemes under consideration, the United States would only have to transfer $16 billion to the NATO general fund.
The FT notes that this proposal will be discussed later this week by NATO foreign ministers at a meeting in Brussels.
It is noted that Stoltenberg presented the proposal as a way to "protect the mechanism from the winds of political change".
The Financial Times cites the possible victory of former US President Trump in the November 2024 elections as one of these changes.
Stoltenberg plans to reach an agreement before the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., in July this year. At the same time, the two diplomats noted that the plan requires the consent of all 32 members of the alliance, and the negotiations could take months.
Supporters of Stoltenberg's idea, according to the Financial Times, believe that if they agree to establish such a fund, NATO countries "will be able to present Kyiv with concrete results of the alliance summit, given that a significant number of member states oppose Ukraine's desired progress towards NATO membership".
Background. According to Politico, the United States and its allies are planning to place the Ukraine Contact Group under NATO's auspices. This is how they want to protect themselves if Trump becomes president of the United States.
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