Amid a right-leaning political surge across Europe and the rising prospects of former President Donald Trump returning to the White House, NATO is taking several measures to shore up long-term support for Ukraine, moves expected to be announced at a summit in Washington, D.C., next week.
The 32-nation military alliance is going to station a senior civilian official in Kyiv and establish a new command in Wiesbaden, Germany, to coordinate the provision of military equipment to Kyiv and the training of Ukrainian troops, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The operation in Germany, to be called the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, will be staffed by nearly 700 U.S. and other allied personnel from across the alliance, the Journal reported. It will take over much of a mission that has been run by the U.S. military since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
The senior civilian official in Kyiv will focus on Ukraine's longer-term military modernization requirements and nonmilitary support, linking to the planned Wiesbaden command and NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Current and former U.S. officials told the Journal the steps would enable the alliance to better coordinate the efforts of Western countries to provide Ukraine with military support. The plan also seeks to make Ukraine's military more like those in NATO.
The initiatives have been in development for months, but President Joe Biden's weak performance in his televised debate with Trump on Thursday and Trump's complaints about the money the U.S. has spent on Ukraine have accelerated the timeline for their development.
"A big reason for the change is to Trump-proof the assistance effort to Ukraine," Ivo Daalder, the U.S. ambassador to NATO from 2009 to 2013, told the Journal. "Rather than having Washington in charge of managing the training and assistance, NATO will be in charge. So even if the U.S. reduces or withdraws support for the effort, it won't be eliminated."
Right-leaning parties have gained significant support recently across the European Union, including in France and the Netherlands, so the institutionalization of NATO's role could also make military assistance to Ukraine less vulnerable to policy swings among alliance members.
"It does provide for durability in the face of potential national political changes, whether it is as the result of elections in the United States, France, the U.K., or even in the European Union," retired U.S. Army Gen. Douglas Lute, the U.S. ambassador to NATO from 2013 to 2017, told the Journal.
NATO initially kept its distance from Ukraine's military campaign to avoid accusations it was a party to the conflict. The organizational changes mean it is now prepared to take a more substantial role in helping Kyiv fight Russia.
"Since NATO allies have provided over 90% of total security assistance to Ukraine, NATO is the natural place to coordinate assistance to ensure Ukraine is more capable of defending itself now and in the future," a senior State Department official told the Journal.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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