NATO defense ministers thrash out new security aid and training support plan for Ukraine

BRUSSELS — NATO defense ministers met Thursday hoping to agree on a new plan to provide long-term security assistance and military training to Ukraine amid The full-scale Russian invasionafter Hungary promised do not veto the proposal as long as you are not forced to participate.

The ministers will meet for two days at NATO headquarters in Brussels in the latest high-level talks before a summit hosted by US President Joe Biden in Washington on July 9-11, where NATO leaders are expected to military organization announce financial support to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Western allies are seeking to bolster their military support as a measure Russian troops launch attacks along the front line of more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), taking advantage of a Long delay in US military aid. European Union money was also held back by political infighting.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who is chairing Thursday’s meeting, said Ukraine’s beleaguered armed forces need long-term predictability about the types of weapons, ammunition and funds they can expect to receive.

“The idea is to minimize the risk of gaps and delays like 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 Russia’s full invasion in February 2022, Western supporters of Ukraine have routinely gathered as part of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, run by the Pentagon, to get weapons and ammunition for kyiv. A new meeting was held on Thursday at NATO headquarters.

Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair said his country would send 2,300 rocket engines to Ukraine and that 80,000 more such devices are being tested. “Pending the results of those tests, we intend to send more packages of these engines to our Ukrainian partners in the future,” he told reporters.

While contact group meetings have resulted in significant battlefield support, they have been ad hoc and unpredictable in nature. Stoltenberg has led an effort to have NATO pick up some of the slack.

The idea is for the 32-nation military alliance to coordinate the security assistance and training process, in part using NATO’s command structure and drawing on funds from its common budget.

Stoltenberg said he hopes Biden and his counterparts will agree in Washington to maintain the level of funding for military support they have provided to Ukraine since Russia launched its full invasion in February 2022.

He estimates this amounts to about €40 billion ($43 billion) worth of equipment each year.

On Wednesday, Hungary announced that it will not veto the plan as long as it 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 in nature, in accordance with NATO rules and our traditions,” said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. “Hungary has received the guarantees we need.”

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 their members give help bilaterally and jointly provide more than 90% of the country’s military support.

The other 31 allies see Russia’s war against Ukraine as an existential threat to Europe’s security, but most of them, including Biden, have been extremely cautious to ensure that NATO is not drawn into a broader conflict with Russia. .

NATO operates on the basis that an attack against a single ally will receive a response from all of them.