NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is abandoning plans to create a five-year military aid fund for Ukraine after facing opposition from alliance members.
This is reported by Bloomberg.
Under a new proposal that could win the support of NATO defense ministers when they gather in Brussels next week, the alliance would commit to spending at least EUR 40 billion a year on lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine.
That would match the average annual contributions since russia invaded in 2022, according to the people, who asked not to be named.
NATO will set donation targets for each country based on a percentage of its gross domestic product, then, likely, publish the totals in an annual report.
The goal will be to provide greater transparency about what Allies provide to Ukraine - while gently putting pressure on those Allies who do not fulfill their obligations. The US will account for about half of the aid, and the rest will be provided by other members of the Alliance.
Stoltenberg previously proposed a plan to pool alliance contributions worth USD 100 billion over five years, but allies have questioned its viability amid reluctance to commit to new funds and concerns that Ukraine could be misled.
While the new plan will not involve new money, NATO hopes it will give Kyiv more predictability over the level of support in the coming years.
According to the sources, this proposal has the broad support of almost all members of the Alliance. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán asked that his country be given the opportunity to withdraw from any in-depth support for Ukraine.
According to the sources, Turkey expressed its concern about other parts of the Ukrainian package, which must be agreed by the leaders in Washington.
NATO also proposes to take over the operational duties of the US-led Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine, which coordinates the supply of weapons to Ukraine by about 50 countries. Turkey called for caution so that any coordination of military aid does not create the impression of greater involvement of allies in the conflict, the publication notes.
In April, at the suggestion of Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, NATO agreed to start planning long-term military support for Ukraine by creating a fund worth EUR 100 billion.
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