NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged members to pledge to maintain yearly military assistance to Ukraine at a minimum of 40 billion euros ($43 billion), following a discussion by foreign ministers from alliance nations over sustained backing for Kyiv.
The majority of the military support provided to Kyiv by NATO members, commanded by the United States, is intended to help it repel the Russian invasion that began in February 2022.
“Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, allies have provided approximately 40 billion euros worth of military aid to Ukraine each year. We must maintain at least this level of support each year, for as long as necessary,” Stoltenberg told journalists after the foreign ministers met in Prague.
“I have also proposed that allies should share this burden equitably,” he said.
He said he wanted NATO’s 32 countries to hammer out the “multi-year financial pledge for Ukraine” so it could be announced at a summit of leaders in Washington in July.
“We need a firm commitment for the long haul to ensure that Ukraine is able to plan, to ensure that Ukraine has the predictability they need to conduct this war of self-defence,” Stoltenberg said.
He said that one way to measure each country’s commitment could be to base it on gross domestic product, but the plan was not finalised.
“We will now start the work on the details of such a financial pledge,” he said.
More than two years into Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, Stoltenberg is attempting to solidify NATO’s backing before Donald Trump makes a potential comeback to the US president.
Following a strong push at a summit last year, NATO members, led by the US and Germany, have advised Kyiv that it should not anticipate any real progress toward joining the alliance in Washington.
Last month, Stoltenberg proposed an overall goal for Ukraine support of 100 billion euros ($108 billion) spread over five years, but his proposal was met with resistance from partners who were unsure of what it would entail.
