NATO defense ministers met in Brussels on Thursday to boost long-term security assistance and military training for Ukraine.
The ministers met at the headquarters of the I’LL TAKE for the last high level conversations ahead of a summit hosted by US President Joe Biden in Washington in July.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance defense need to maintain are support level a Ukraine. “Since the full-scale invasion of Russia, the allies have provided about 40,000 million euros in military support every year. I have proposed that we maintain this level of support at a minimum for as long as necessary, and that allies share this burden equitably” Stoltenberg said.
Los western allies from Ukraine are trying to reinforce its military support as Russian troops launch attacks along the more than 1,000 kilometer front line, taking advantage of the pronounced delay of US military aid. European Union money was also held back by political infighting.
Stoltenberg calls for “minimizing” the risk of delays in military aid to Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who chaired Thursday’s meeting, said Ukraine’s beleaguered armed forces need the ability to long term forecast about the types of weapons, ammunition and funds that they can expect to receive.
“The idea is minimize the risk of gaps and delays as we saw earlier this year,” Stoltenberg told reporters. The delay, he said, “is one of the reasons why the Russians can now press and occupy more territory in Ukraine“.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022, kyiv’s Western supporters have routinely gathered as part of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Groupled by the Pentagon, to achieve weapons and ammunition for the country.
The idea is that the I’LL TAKEas a military alliance of 32 nations, coordinate the security training and assistance processin part using the organization’s command structure and drawing on funds from its common budget.
Stoltenberg hopes Biden and his counterparts will agree on Washington maintain the level of funding for military support they have provided to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022. On Wednesday, Hungary announced that will not veto the plan as long as she is not forced to participate. “I asked the Secretary General to make it clear that any military action outside NATO territory can only be voluntary naturein accordance with NATO rules and our traditions,” said the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán. “Hungary has received the guarantees we need.”
NATO, the world’s largest security alliance, does not send weapons or ammunition to Ukraine as an organization, and has no plans to deploy troops on the ground. But many of its members provide bilateral aid and together they provide more than 90% of the country’s military support.
