Nato is drawing up plans to secure a five-year military aid package of up to $100bn, in an attempt to shield Ukraine from “winds of political change” that could usher in a second Trump presidency.
The so-called Mission for Ukraine proposal, which will be discussed by Nato foreign ministers on Wednesday, is being put forward by the secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg.
According to five alliance diplomats briefed on the plan, it would co-ordinate an estimated $100bn in support committed by the 32 members of the military alliance.
Stoltenberg has pitched the proposal as a means “to shield the mechanism against the winds of political change”, according to people briefed on his remarks.
If approved, it would also give the alliance control of the US-led Ramstein weapons support group and allow it to manage the supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
The Norwegian secretary-general, who will step down from his role this autumn, is aiming to reach agreement before the Nato leaders’ summit in Washington in July.
“This will be crossing a Rubicon. Nato will have a role in co-ordinating lethal support to Ukraine,” said one of the diplomats. “I see consensus emerging and I think it will be there by the time we get on the plane to Washington.”
The mission proposal comes as the Biden administration struggles to get approval from Congress for a bilateral $60bn Ukraine military support package — which Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has openly spoken against — ahead of the presidential election in November.
Join in on more popular conversations.
