Stoltenberg, after the visit to Kiev: “Ukraine’s trust has been affected”. He suggests that NATO take over from the US the coordination of military aid

Ukraine’s confidence in its NATO allies “has taken a hit” because of delays and failures in the delivery of weapons for the war against the Russian invasion, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Reuters as he left Ukraine. on Monday evening, by train, after a one-day visit, reports News.ro.

Stoltenberg said that such failures show that the time has come to review the coordination of international military aid to Kiev. “We need a more robust and institutionalized framework for our support, to ensure predictability, to ensure more accountability and to ensure burden-sharing,” said the secretary general of the transatlantic military alliance.

As an example of NATO allies not living up to expectations, he cited the fact that it took the US Congress six months to pass a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine and that European countries delivered far less artillery ammunition than they promised. These shortcomings had a major impact on the battlefield, as Russia seized the initiative while Ukrainian forces, short of ammunition, were forced to go on the defensive.

“Of course, the fact that we did not deliver what we promised affected trust,” Stoltenberg declared after the visit to Kiev. But after a day of talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior officials, he says Ukraine still believes in its allies and it’s now up to them to keep their word.

NATO coordination

Stoltenberg, Norway’s former prime minister, says one way to avoid future shortfalls in military aid to Ukraine is to give NATO a greater coordinating role and draw up a multi-year plan that spells out the expected contributions from each ally.

He submitted such a proposal to NATO’s 32 members and said it should be backed by a significant financial commitment. Diplomats say a proposal of 100 billion euros ($107 billion) over five years has been floated.

“This will make it easier to plan. It will be clear what each ally is expected to deliver,” Stoltenberg said, sitting at a small table in his train carriage and occasionally tapping a NATO pad with a pen to emphasize his points.

“And NATO can then play a more important role in ensuring that allies actually deliver on what they have announced,” he said.

Currently, Western military support for Ukraine is organized ad hoc by the US-led Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine, also known as the Ramstein Group. NATO members gave the green light earlier this month for military planners to work on Stoltenberg’s proposal, but some governments have expressed reservations.

Trillions of dollars were spent on Iraq and Afghanistan

Hungary has said it will oppose any move that could bring NATO closer to war, and some diplomats have questioned whether a major additional financial commitment is feasible. But Stoltenberg is of the opinion that such a move would be a good investment in the own security of NATO members.

He said the money would be only “small parts or fractions” of what the United States and its allies have spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. “There we are talking about trillions and in Ukraine we are talking about billions,” he said. “But, in fact, we are dealing with a real challenge to our security – a more aggressive Russia,” the head of NATO emphasized.

Stoltenberg also faces a challenge in convincing Ukraine that a change in NATO-led coordination would be in its best interest. At a news conference with Stoltenberg on Monday, Zelenskiy praised the Ramstein group and said Ukraine wanted to ensure that any new financial commitment would not take money from NATO members’ bilateral aid to Kiev.

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