Trump outlines new role for NATO in supporting Ukraine
11 July 09:10
NATO will pay for all weapons that the US sends to Ukraine. According to CNN, President Donald Trump announced that he had signed a deal with the alliance, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
According to Trump, this is a condition of the new agreement between the US, NATO and Ukraine.
“We’re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons one hundred percent. We are going to send Patriot missiles to NATO, and then NATO will distribute them,” he said.
He clarified that the agreement was reached in June at the North Atlantic Alliance summit.
Trump added that he was “disappointed with Russia” and announced “an important statement on Russia on Monday.”
Before that, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he “urged leaders to go further to ensure that Ukraine has more ammunition and air defense equipment.” He also spoke with Trump about providing Ukraine with the necessary assistance.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in turn, said that the United States is “actively” talking with European countries about sharing Patriot batteries with Ukraine.
“There are other Patriot batteries, and there are other possibilities. Countries that have ordered Patriot batteries and will soon receive shipments of them, it would be great if one of them would voluntarily volunteer to put that shipment on hold and send it to Ukraine instead,” Rubio told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
President did not know about the shutdown
In a phone call on July 4, Trump allegedly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he did not know about the arms freeze. This was a humiliation for the civilian leadership of the Pentagon, which saw the president reversing an important policy, The Economist writes.
Among the key figures advocating for the halt was Albright Colby, the undersecretary of defense for policy, who has long advocated shifting resources from Europe and the Middle East to Asia.
Limited prospects for aid
The resumption of military supplies is, at best, a return to the status quo, when American military support ended slowly rather than suddenly, the newspaper analyzes. The weapons coming to Ukraine were pledged by the previous administration of Joe Biden, but this flow should decrease by the end of 2028.
According to the publication, Trump has not made any new arms commitments since returning to office in January. Tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine approved by Congress last year remain unused. The Republican Congress has not allocated any new funds.
