NATO plans $100bn ‘Trump-proof’ fund for Ukraine

6 comments

1. this is behind a paywall… Here is the archive version…

   # Nato plans $100bn ‘Trump-proof’ fund for Ukraine

   Proposed five-year military aid package would shield Kyiv from ‘winds of political change’Nato plans $100bn ‘Trump-proof’ fund for Ukraine

   Henry Foy in Brussels

   Nato is drawing up plans to secure a five-year military aid package of up to $100bn, in an attempt to shield Ukraine from “winds of political change” that could usher in a second Trump presidency.

   The so-called Mission for Ukraine proposal, which will be discussed by Nato foreign ministers on Wednesday, is being put forward by the secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg.

   According to five alliance diplomats briefed on the plan, it would co-ordinate an estimated $100bn in support committed by the 32 members of the military alliance.

   Stoltenberg has pitched the proposal as a means “to shield the mechanism against the winds of political change”, according to people briefed on his remarks.

   If approved, it would also give the alliance control of the US-led Ramstein weapons support group and allow it to manage the supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

   The Norwegian secretary-general, who will step down from his role this autumn, is aiming to reach agreement before the Nato leaders’ summit in Washington in July.

   “This will be crossing a Rubicon. Nato will have a role in co-ordinating lethal support to Ukraine,” said one of the diplomats. “I see consensus emerging and I think it will be there by the time we get on the plane to Washington.”

   The mission proposal comes as the Biden administration struggles to get approval from Congress for a bilateral $60bn Ukraine military support package — which Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has openly spoken against — ahead of the presidential election in November.

   Many allies see the stalemate as a harbinger of how US policy towards Kyiv would shift under a Trump presidency.

   It has been drawn up as Nato allies fret about the state of the conflict in Ukraine, where Russia has regained the initiative on the ground, outmanning and outgunning Ukrainian forces.

   The US share of the $100bn would be significantly less than the bilateral aid package being held up, the diplomats said. Debates are ongoing about the structure of financing, with some pushing for the same breakdown used to fund Nato’s shared budget — under which the US would need to provide a little more than $16bn.

   “$100bn for the next five years to support the Ukrainian force of the future,” said the diplomat, who said that the Nato joint budget coefficients could be used to calculate individual shares of the total spending. “It solves a burden-sharing problem.”

   It is envisaged as a means both to lock in long-term financing ahead of Trump’s potential election and to give Kyiv a concrete deliverable from the summit, in lieu of progress towards its desired membership of Nato, which is seen as impossible by many alliance members.

   “Foreign ministers will discuss the best way to organise Nato’s support for Ukraine, to make it more powerful, predictable and enduring,” a Nato official said, adding that discussions are expected to continue in the run-up to the July summit.

   Much of the western weaponry provided to Ukraine is managed by the US-led Ramstein Group, officially known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which meets regularly to discuss how best to co-ordinate bilateral deliveries.

   Two of the diplomats cautioned that the proposal would require the backing of all 32 members and there were likely to be months of negotiations ahead, in which parts of the proposal could be scaled back.

   [ [https://archive.vn/O4mCX](https://archive.vn/O4mCX) ]

2. More on this subject from other reputable sources:

   —
   – Der Spiegel (A-): [Long-term military aid: Stoltenberg proposes 100 billion euro NATO package for Ukraine](https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/nato-jens-stoltenberg-schlaegt-100-milliarden-euro-paket-fuer-ukraine-vor-a-a5cfa6db-2533-4622-9e9c-12fbc46b28f3)
   – Reuters (A): [NATO ministers mull 100 billion euro military fund for Ukraine](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nato-ministers-mull-100-billion-euro-military-fund-ukraine-2024-04-02/)
   – DW-TV (B+): [Ukraine: NATO ministers debate €100 billion military fund](https://www.dw.com/en/nato-foreign-ministers-ukraine/a-68726465)
   – Bloomberg (B): [NATO Proposes $100 Billion, Five-Year Fund to Aid Ukraine](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-02/nato-proposes-100-billion-five-year-fund-to-support-ukraine)

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3. So Hungary has to support it for it to pass? Have I missed something or is this just more false hopes?

4. Best way to make anything Trump proof is to lock him up and/ or never again vote for the yellow bellied orange skinned narcissistic Putin puppet

5. Looks like Trump succeeded in getting europe to pay its fair share 😉

   Would be nice if the EU would stop buying russian gas and oil though….

   russiafossiltracker dot com

6. Quickly my friends