2024-04-03 16:47:35
The foreign ministers of the NATO countries will meet in Brussels today to discuss the alliance’s support for Ukraine and future relations with Russia, DPA reported.
A key topic of the consultations will be how to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia in the best possible way. According to a number of diplomats, the meeting will also discuss the creation of a 100 billion euro fund to provide military aid to Kiev over the next five years.
Part of the plans to strengthen support for Kiev in the long term also envisages the creation of a new NATO mission to coordinate the delivery of military aid and training of Ukrainian servicemen. Until now, the US has played the main role in this process through a body known as the Contact Group on Defense Assistance to Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is proposing a new mechanism to make the alliance’s support more independent of political circumstances and individual allies such as the United States.
At the end of the two-day meeting, there will be a ceremony on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of NATO.
One of the open questions for the allies is who will succeed Stoltenberg as secretary general of the alliance. For a candidate to be elected, he must be supported by all member countries. Most of them support the candidacy of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, but Hungary is opposed and Turkey has not yet declared its support. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis also participated in the race for the post, reports BTA.