NATO will provide Ukraine with a new headquarters to manage military assistance at a summit marking its 75th anniversary in Washington, officials said, ensuring the alliance's long-term commitment to the country's security, which has been hailed as a “bridge” to Kyiv's eventual membership.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with other Central European countries, was eager for his country to accept the offer to negotiate NATO membership. The summit will be held from July 9th to 11th.
Instead, the alliance will announce an agreement to set up a mission in Germany to coordinate all kinds of support for Ukraine over the long term, U.S. and NATO officials said. The move is intended to send a signal to both Kiev and Moscow of the alliance's strong commitment, and raises the hope that Western countries will tire of supporting the war.
The mission will be carried out under the auspices of NATO and is designed to function even if Donald J. Trump, a fierce critic of NATO and aid to Ukraine, wins the U.S. presidential election in November.
Biden administration and NATO officials came up with the idea as a way to give Kyiv something solid to stand by at the summit, even as they maintain that now is not the time for Ukraine to join.
Not only is Ukraine still at war and NATO may be an active participant in the fighting, but President Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have said Ukraine must make significant reforms to reduce corruption and improve democracy and the rule of law.
The hope is that the mission and the commitment it demonstrates will satisfy President Zelenskyy and lead to a smoother summit than the last one held a year ago in Vilnius, Lithuania, where the president expressed dissatisfaction that Ukraine was not given a clear deadline for accession negotiations.
The new mission will bring together under one umbrella the activities of the current “capabilities coalition” of countries providing various forms of military assistance to Ukraine, including air defense, artillery, F-16 fighter jets, weapons and training.
The plan will also involve training Ukrainian military personnel in allied nations and coordinating long-term bilateral security agreements that various countries have with Ukraine, according to U.S. and NATO officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the plan have not yet been released.
But all NATO nations are in favor of creating the mission, which is expected to be announced at the summit, officials said.
Aid to Ukraine so far By consolidating key pieces of support and training under one command, which has been conducted largely on a country-by-country basis with little consideration for efficiency or Kyiv's most immediate needs, the aim is to streamline flows and increase coherence, said officials briefed on the plan.
The mission, called NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), will work to reduce duplication and complexity of different types of weapons being sent to Ukraine.
One example is France's recent offer to donate an unspecified number of Mirage fighter jets as Ukraine struggles to train pilots and fly F-16s, according to U.S. and NATO officials. The Mirages, similarly advanced aircraft, require different training, parts and maintenance, which could strain Ukraine's capabilities.
The mission would be based at the U.S. military facility in Wiesbaden, Germany, and would be led by a three-star general, likely an American, reporting directly to Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, the supreme NATO and U.S. commander in Europe.
Former NATO ambassador Ivo Daalder, who was briefed on the plans, said placing the mission under General Cavoli's NATO umbrella would insulate it from any political shifts in Washington.
The new mission will also incorporate the existing U.S. group based in Wiesbaden responsible for weapons transportation and personnel training.
The group would also operate in parallel with the Ukrainian Defense Liaison Group, a U.S.-led effort to coordinate arms supplies to Ukraine from some 50 countries, well beyond NATO's 32 members. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin, who established the liaison group, has insisted that the U.S. take the chair for now, the officials said.
Daalder said that while Russia has already touted its invasion of Ukraine as a war of “self-defense” against an ever-expanding and hostile NATO, the group would not officially be called a “mission” due to German objections, which did not want to give the impression that Germany and NATO were at war with Russia.
“This is an effort to counter the threat posed by the Trump administration, and it's a deliberate effort to bring Ukraine and NATO closer together and to support Ukraine not just now but into the future,” Daalder said.
The Biden administration has not publicly commented on the details of the plan, but National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the summit would show allies were taking “concrete steps” to bring Ukraine closer and secure a “bridge to eventual membership.” At a NATO summit last year, NATO also refused to give Ukraine a clear timeline or path to membership or allow it to begin membership negotiations. Despite Zelensky's displeasure, NATO's overall position is unlikely to change as a result of the summit.
NATO's reluctance to open accession talks with Ukraine or give a clear deadline for doing so contrasts with the European Union, which opened accession talks with both Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday.
Those negotiations are expected to take years, but they will be a significant and symbolic moment for both Ukraine, which is enduring Russian aggression, and Moldova, which fears it may be next.
Outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg spoke vaguely about plans for the new mission after a meeting of allied defense ministers on June 14. He told a news conference that the announcement would be made at the summit in Washington “to further solidify our support for Ukraine for years to come.”
He called the new mission an “important summit outcome” and another step “on Ukraine's path to NATO membership,” stressing that “these efforts will not make NATO a party to a conflict, but will strengthen our support for Ukraine's right to self-defense.”
