NATO to establish new headquarters to lead assistance coordination to Ukraine, no membership talks expected - NYT
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Ukraine will not be offered membership talks at the upcoming NATO summit in Washington on July 9-11, but the alliance will announce the establishment of structure that will coordinate aid in the long term perspective, NYT reported citing sources on June 26.
NATO will offer Ukraine a new headquarters to manage military assistance provided, proving the Alliance's long-term commitment to Ukraine's security and will serve as a "bridge" to Kyiv's eventual membership.
The alliance will announce that it has agreed to establish a mission in Germany to coordinate all types of assistance to Ukraine in the long term. The move is intended to send a strong signal of the alliance's commitment to both Kyiv and Moscow, which hopes the West support for Ukraine will fade.
Since the mission will work under NATO auspices, it is designed to function even if former US President Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November.
US President Joe Biden administration and NATO officials came up with the idea as a way to give Kyiv "something solid" at the summit, even though they believe the time to join is "not yet right".
The new mission will bring under one umbrella the activities of the current "coalition of capabilities" of countries providing different military assistance to Ukraine, such as air defense, artillery, F-16 fighter jets, weapons and military training, the NYT wrote.
The plan will coordinate Ukrainian soldiers' training in allied countries and long-term bilateral security agreements that various countries have signed with Ukraine, US and NATO officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
All NATO countries support the idea of creating a mission and it will be announced at the Alliance summit.
It will be called NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine and will work to reduce duplication and complications associated with the various types of weapons provided.
One example is France's recent offer to transfer an unspecified number of Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine, while Ukraine is already preparing to receive F-16 fighter jets, according to US and NATO officials. The Mirage, a similarly complex aircraft, requires different training, parts and maintenance, which could strain Ukrainian capabilities.
The mission will be based at a US military facility in Wiesbaden, Germany, and will be led by four-star General Christopher Cavoli, who will report directly to NATO's supreme commander and US generals in Europe.
All mentioned above will "protect the mission from any political changes" in Washington.
The new mission will also include the already existing US group stationed in Wiesbaden, which deals with the supply of weapons and personnel training.
It will work simultaneously with the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine (Ramstein format). Defense Minister Lloyd Austin insisted that it remains under the American presidency for the time being.
The group would not be officially called a "mission" because of objections from Germany, which wants to avoid suggesting that it and NATO are at war with Russia, even though Russia is already positioning its invasion of Ukraine as a war of "self-defense" against NATO.
Biden's administration has not publicly commented on the plan's details, but Jake Sullivan, the US National Security adviser, said the summit would demonstrate allies' "concrete steps" to bring Ukraine closer and provide it with a "bridge to possible membership".
The Alliance plans to offer Ukraine a package of security measures that will serve as a "bridge" to membership, US permanent representative to NATO, Julianna Smith, said earlier at the summit in Washington.
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