NATO will create a Trust Fund to support the defense potential of Ukraine on the long-term perspective, NATO high-rank official reported at a briefing on June 23 talking about an agenda of forthcoming meetings of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) at the level of Foreign Ministers in Brussels on June 24-25.
He said that the Trust Fund and assistance package for Ukraine are
being discussed now only as an initial project. These measures don’t
foresee direct military aid to this country, and would be focused on
reforming the armed forces, the modernization of logistics,
communication systems, command and control, and the education and
training of staff.
Nobody talks about direct military assistance, and what about
supplies of the military machinery, and it is NATO members countries,
not the alliance itself, who are the competent authorities in this
issue, he said.
“We have been working on the defense sector of Ukraine over the last
ten years. Now we’ll discuss how to extend the cooperation in this
sphere with new democratic administration,” he added.
At the conference of the NATO countries’ foreign chiefs there will be
no definite decisions over the Trust Fund for Ukraine and regarding its
creation, just “general ideas” to be covered.
The ministers will receive a report on the measures already taken by
the alliance over the Ukrainian crisis, and on proposed new measures,
among which is a possible formation of the Trust Fund for Ukraine,
retraining of the military personnel and other practical measures. The
discussion is aimed at preparing this topic for the further discussion
at the NATO summit in Wales, the official said.
On Wednesday, at the Ukraine-NATO Commission meeting, foreign chiefs
of NATO country members will hear a report by Ukraine’s new foreign
minister, Pavlo Klimkin, on the priorities of the peace plan of
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the consequences of the crisis
for Ukraine.
