NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is scrapping plans to set up a $100 billion fund to aid Ukraine over five years after facing rejection from alliance members, Bloomberg reported on June 7 citing people familiar with the matter.
Stoltenberg's new proposal reportedly suggests that allies spend at least 40 billion euros ($43 billion) per year on lethal and non-lethal aid for Kyiv.
This would match the average annual contributions since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Bloomberg's sources said.
NATO will reportedly determine the sums of donations for each country based on a percentage of their gross domestic product. The U.S. is expected to contribute about a half of the assistance, according to Bloomberg.
Stoltenberg's new plan does not include new funds, but NATO expects it to provide Kyiv with more predictability about the level of support for the coming years, Bloomberg wrote.
While being united as a bloc against Russia’s full-scale invasion, levels of support between NATO member states, as well as their public statements on the threat to European security that the Kremlin poses, vary.
Ukraine is not expected to advance further towards NATO membership at this year’s annual summit in Washington. Julianne Smith, U.S. Ambassador to NATO, said that alliance members will offer Kyiv a security package as a "bridge" to membership.
Despite setbacks to Ukraine's NATO aspirations, partners assured Kyiv that the Washington summit would define a specific position for Ukraine's membership in NATO, namely its irreversibility and the roadmap toward it, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said.
Anna Husarska
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