We are in the early stages, but NATO has started studying the possibility of establishing a 100 billion euro fund (over five years) to assist Ukraine militarily. Or rather, it is the proposal put forward by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, which opens the race to the Washington summit in July. The 32 allies will now have to examine it. But that is not all. There is also the idea of taking part of its tasks away from the Ramstein format – led by the US and based in the Pentagon – and transferring the headquarters to Brussels, to Monsignor's military headquarters. «The rationale is to protect Kiev from political changes », notes an allied source. So, mainly, the possible return of Donald Trump. Of course, assigning a large part of the coordination of military supplies to NATO for the Alliance means “crossing the Rubicon” and potentially being accused by Vladimir Putin of taking the path of escalation.
“Putin distorts everything in favor of his narrative anyway, this step wouldn't make the difference,” comments another allied source. But then he concedes: “Some allies are cautious on this aspect.” The other major problem is money. Where will they come from? Will they be able to take into account what individual countries already contribute bilaterally? The discussions here are only just beginning and foreign ministers will have a first round of discussions tomorrow in Brussels.
One hypothesis is that the national percentages of contribution to the NATO budget are used, another is that a fixed share of the GDP is used, along the lines of what was proposed by the Baltics. “Among the allies there is a problem of dividing the burden of support for Kiev: there are those who do a lot and those who do very little”, underlines a diplomat. The beauty of Stoltenberg's proposal is that he would resolve this vulnerability by establishing a principle of sharing. However, it is not just the relationship between the allies. Given that Ukraine, as NATO celebrates its 75th anniversary, faces perhaps its most critical moment since the siege of Kiev and cannot hope to receive an official invitation to join the club, it will at least be able to count on a support package for “consistent and predictable” defense.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a law reducing the age for mobilization from 27 to 25 years.
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