As NATO Foreign Ministers celebrated the organisation’s 75th anniversary on 4 April 2024, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the United States that it needs its allies more than ever as the Ukraine War enters its third year. At a summit in Brussels on 3 April 2024, the 32 member states of the Alliance agreed to take a greater role in coordinating military assistance to Ukraine to help it fight Russia in Europe’s worst conflict since the Second World War, and to demonstrate unity on Ukraine.[1]
NATO is working on a five-year military aid package of up to $100 billion to protect Ukraine from the “winds of political change” that could occur if Trump is re-elected president. Speaking to the press before the summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said:[2]
“We are discussing ways to institutionalise our support within the NATO framework in order to make it more robust, more predictable. No final decision will be taken at the meeting today and tomorrow. Hopefully we will move towards consensus and then reach an agreement by the summit.”
Asked whether this proposal was a precautionary measure against the possibility of Donald Trump being elected President of the United States, Stoltenberg replied:[3]
“The reason why we are discussing this proposal is that we see the situation on the battlefield. We see how difficult the situation is in Ukraine. That is why we welcome everything that NATO allies are doing. At the same time, we also see that we need to do more. Ukrainians need more support, but they also need more predictable and long-term support.”
The Ukraine Mission proposal comes at a time when the Biden administration is struggling to gain Congressional approval for a $60 billion Ukraine military aid package, which Republican candidate Donald Trump has publicly opposed ahead of the presidential elections in November. Many actors see this impasse as a harbinger of how US policy towards Kiev will change under the Trump presidency. It comes as NATO allies are concerned about the state of the conflict in Ukraine, where Russia has regained the initiative on the ground by gaining the upper hand over Ukrainian forces. Diplomats have indicated that the US share of the $100 billion package will be significantly less than the suspended bilateral aid package. While debate continues on the structure of the financing, some want to use the method used to finance NATO’s common budget, which would mean the US providing slightly more than $16 billion.[4]
The US-based media company Politico reported that ministers reacted differently to the proposal. Citing an unnamed diplomat, it noted that some ministers “rolled their eyes” when they heard the idea and asked questions about where exactly this amount was coming from. “Some Western European countries are concerned that giving NATO so much money and power will undermine the EU’s efforts to play a bigger role in defence,” the report said, stressing that NATO’s initiative in this direction could negatively affect the EU’s defence plans.
Politico added that Secretary-General Stoltenberg’s proposal raises many questions about the details, the most important of which is whether the assistance will come from new funds or from funds allocated from existing programmes. Diplomats cautioned that the discussion on financing was still at a very early stage, pointing out that Stoltenberg had refused to make public the amount in his proposal. The most decisive objection came from Hungary, which did its utmost not to spoil its relations with the Kremlin. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó insisted that NATO is only a defence alliance. Szijjártó said before the meeting: “Hungary will reject any proposal to turn NATO into an offensive alliance, as this would lead to a serious danger of escalation. This is not Hungary’s war, it is not NATO’s war.”[5]
The Kremlin’s reaction to NATO’s plans to set up a new $100 billion aid fund for Ukraine was not delayed. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, answering the questions of journalists on the subject, underlined NATO’s involvement in the conflict in Ukraine and said, “Russia-NATO relations have de facto descended to the level of direct conflict.” Emphasising that NATO continues to show its true face because NATO was conceived, designed, established and used by the United States primarily as an instrument of conflict on the European continent, the Kremlin spokesman said: “NATO continues to fulfil its functions in this context, but what is happening does not in any way contribute to the security, predictability and stability of the continent, but rather acts as a destabilising factor.”
In conclusion, in the context of the upcoming US elections, the Ukraine issue remains of utmost importance in the context of the transforming and conflicting political camps of the Western powers. Globalist liberal democrats, who foresee that support for Ukraine will be cut off if the centre-right Trump takes power in the US, want to secure the funding they want to continue providing to Ukraine. The most recent attempt to make things more difficult for Russia, which has had a clear moral superiority on the front line in recent months, and to continue this conflict, which has turned into a “war of attrition”, a little longer in their own interests, was the proposal for a new Ukraine fund at NATO’s 75th anniversary summit.
[1]Gray, A., “NATO marks 75 years anniversary with show of unity as Ukraine war grinds on”, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/world/ministers-mark-75-years-nato-discuss-more-support-ukraine-2024-04-03/, (Date of Access: 04.04.2024).
[2] “NATO’da bazı bakanlar, Ukrayna için 100 milyar dolarlık fon kurma fikrini duyunca gözlerini devirdi”, Sputnik, https://anlatilaninotesi.com.tr/20240404/natoda-bazi-bakanlar-ukrayna-icin-100-milyar-dolarlik-fon-kurma-fikrini-duyunca-gozlerini-devirdi-1082456370.html, (Date of Access: 04.04.2024).
[3] Ibid.
[4]Foy, H., “Nato plans $100bn ‘Trump-proof’ fund for Ukraine”, Financial Times, https://www.ft.com/content/254c3b86-2cb9-4c71-824b-dacacbbc9871 (Date of Access: 04.04.2024).
[5]Lau, S., et al., “NATO ministers’ doubts, fears and eye-rolls over €100B Ukraine plan”, Politico, https://www.politico.eu/article/nato-foreign-ministers-doubts-fears-eye-rolls-e100b-ukraine-plan/, (Date of Access: 04.04.2024).
