Rutte called on NATO countries to increase aid to Ukraine: tens of billions of dollars are involved -Politico

 NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has proposed that the Alliance allies allocate 0.25% of their GDP to Ukraine each year for support and defense. The initiative could significantly increase the amount of aid to Kyiv, but has already caused controversy within NATO.

This was reported by Politico, citing diplomatic sources.

According to the publication, Rutte raised this issue during a closed meeting of NATO ambassadors in late April. The idea is being discussed in preparation for the Alliance summit, which will be held in Ankara in July.

If the initiative is supported, the amount of annual aid to Ukraine could increase almost threefold - to USD 143 billion. For comparison, last year the allies provided Kyiv with about USD 45 billion in security support.

Rutte's proposal was a reaction to the dissatisfaction of the countries of Northern and Baltic Europe, as well as Poland and the Netherlands, which spend a much larger share of their GDP on aid to Ukraine than the major states of Western Europe.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas confirmed that the issue of uneven financial burden is regularly discussed among the allies.

At the same time, some countries were skeptical about the idea. In particular, France and the United Kingdom express doubts. Diplomats note that making such a decision will not be easy, because any pan-Allied initiative requires unanimous support from all NATO members.

Rutte himself emphasized that the topic of Ukraine will be one of the key ones at the July summit.

"We are going to the summit in Ankara, which, of course, will be largely dedicated to Ukraine - to supporting its strongest possible position," said the NATO Secretary General.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, meanwhile, Czech Prime Minister Babis is ready to continue the "Czech projectile initiative," but only at the expense of other countries.