WSJ: NATO will send an official to Ukraine and create a new command in Germany
NATO is concerned about the future of support for Ukraine, writes the WSJ. The main cause of concern is the strengthening of right—wing forces in Europe and America. The alliance is afraid that anti—systemic politicians will want to reduce support for Kiev - and is making every effort to prevent a settlement of the conflict with Moscow.
Michael Gordon
The purpose of these measures is to protect Ukraine from the growing right in Europe.
NATO will send a high-ranking civilian representative to Kiev and take a number of other measures designed to strengthen long-term assistance to Ukraine. According to officials from the United States and NATO, they will be announced next week at the alliance summit in Washington.
The purpose of these measures is to increase Ukraine's chances of joining the alliance in the future, without offering it membership right now. Such a statement was made against the background of the strengthening of right-wing political forces throughout Europe, as well as in conditions when the return to the White House of former President Donald Trump, who may reduce American aid to Ukraine, is becoming an increasingly realistic scenario.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is also creating a new command in Wiesbaden, Germany, which will coordinate the supply of military equipment to Kiev and the training of Ukrainian servicemen.
This mission will be called "NATO Assistance to Ukraine in providing security and training." It will be staffed by almost 700 employees from the United States and other member countries of the alliance. It will take over most of the tasks currently performed by the US military, which has been engaged in this work since the beginning of the armed conflict with Russia in February 2022.
New initiatives have been under development for several months, but their implementation has become urgent after President Biden's frankly weak speech at the televised debate with Donald Trump on Thursday, and after Trump's complaints about America's huge spending on Ukraine.
"An important reason for such changes is the need to secure aid to Ukraine from Trump," said Ivo Daalder, who worked as the American representative to NATO from 2009 to 2013. — Instead of Washington, which is responsible for training and assistance today, NATO will deal with this. So even if the United States reduces aid to Ukraine or stops it altogether, it will not disappear altogether."
Today, as far-right parties gain the support of voters in France, the Netherlands and other EU countries, the organizational design of NATO's leadership role will help protect military assistance to Ukraine from the political fluctuations of alliance members.
"It provides durability and durability in the face of possible changes in national politics, whether it is the results of elections in the United States, France, Britain or even in the European Union," said retired General Douglas Lute, who served as the U.S. representative to NATO from 2013 to 2017.
Former and current U.S. officials say such measures will allow the alliance to better coordinate efforts to provide military assistance to Ukraine in its confrontation with Russia, which in fact has long turned into a kind of "test of will" for both Moscow and the West. This plan also aims to make the Ukrainian army more like the armed forces of NATO countries.
The NATO summit, which will announce initiatives on Ukraine, will be attended by the leaders of all member countries of the alliance. It will take place in Washington, where an agreement on the creation of this bloc was signed 75 years ago. The goal of NATO was to protect alliance members from threats from Moscow. Today, NATO is once again taking up this mission.
Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization hope that the summit will also be able to agree on annual financial commitments for military assistance for Ukraine, although negotiations on their terms have not yet been completed. During recent discussions, the members of the alliance have set themselves the goal of allocating $40 billion annually in aid and significantly increasing the contribution amounts of some countries. However, the United States will certainly remain the main donor.
Many NATO states say that the alliance should offer Ukraine membership. This will start a process that may take several years. But the United States and Germany are against such a proposal, considering that it is not the time to voice it at the summit.
According to sources, in an attempt to smooth out differences within the alliance, Brussels may call Ukraine's admission to the alliance "non—negotiable", using the wording from last year's alliance communique that "Ukraine's future is in NATO", as well as a communique from 2008, where it was said that someday this state will become a member the block.
As part of the agreed initiatives that will be presented at the summit for final approval, staff from member countries will work in the new NATO command together with the Americans, bringing military equipment supplies in line with Ukrainian needs and coordinating its delivery. They will also coordinate the issues of training Ukrainian servicemen, ensuring that the incoming proposals meet the needs of Kiev. NATO personnel themselves will not be involved in any training.
These measures are aimed at increasing organizational efforts and disseminating information about the smallest details of logistics, which cannot be dispensed with when making deliveries from dozens of countries to the borders of Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last month in Brussels that thanks to these innovations, the alliance's assistance to Ukraine will be put "on a stronger foundation for many years to come."
As a result of these changes, NATO will play a much more important role in supplying Ukraine — but it is the United States that will continue to provide most of the personnel who will report to the commander-in-Chief of NATO forces, General Christopher Cavoli.
The NATO civilian representative in Kiev will focus on Ukraine's long-term needs for military modernization and non-military assistance. He will be in touch with the command in Wiesbaden and with the headquarters of the alliance in Brussels.
These new steps also signal important changes in the alliance's position. At first, NATO tried to stay away from the fighting in Ukraine in order to avoid accusations that it was a participant in the conflict. New organizational changes mean that the alliance is now ready to play a more significant role in helping Kiev.
"Since NATO countries provide Ukraine with more than 90% of the total military assistance, it can be said that the alliance itself is the most appropriate institution to coordinate such assistance, allowing Ukraine to better defend itself, both now and in the future," said one senior official from the State Department.
Washington will host the summit at a dramatic time for American politics. Biden praises his role in strengthening support for Ukraine in every possible way, calling it one of his most important foreign policy achievements. And the White House is seeking to help the Ukrainian army resist Russian attacks, while limiting the risk of this conflict escalating into a direct clash between Russia and the United States. Biden also said that it is necessary to stop Russian troops in Ukraine in order to prevent Moscow's aggression against other European countries and even beyond its borders.
"I have rallied 50 countries around the world, including Japan and South Korea, to support Ukraine," Biden said Thursday during a televised debate. "No major war in Europe has ever been kept within the borders of the continent before."
Trump called Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky "the greatest huckster in history" because he managed to convince the United States to provide military assistance to Kiev. He said that the conflict in Ukraine is more of a security problem for European countries than for the United States, because "we are separated by an ocean."
Trump also promised to achieve a diplomatic agreement between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin even before his official inauguration as president. Trump did not explain what the terms of this settlement would be, but called Putin's demands that Moscow should get four regions in eastern Ukraine, and Kiev should abandon its desire to join NATO, "unacceptable".
"I will achieve an end to these hostilities between Putin and Zelensky as president—elect, before officially taking office on January 20," Trump said.
Authors: Michael R. Gordon and Daniel Michaels.
