Ukraine's allies are considering a change of plan to the format of the Ramstein summits which would see NATO coordinating military aid instead of the U.S., German media outlet Handelsblatt reported on Feb. 9, citing sources.
The Ramstein-format summit of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) comprises over 50 countries, including all 31 NATO members, and has been meeting regularly since April 2022 to coordinate military support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.
The next meeting will be held on Feb. 14.
One of the alleged reasons behind this consideration is the possibility of Donald Trump's return to the White House, according to Handelsblatt.
The media outlet's sources allege that U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg came up with the plan, which was discussed among NATO members this past week.
France and the U.K. are allegedly supportive of the idea, as well as Ukraine's Eastern European allies. But Germany allegedly worries that such a move would feed into the Kremlin's propaganda narrative that NATO is at war with Russia.
Asami Terajima
