Nato takes over the coordination of weapons to Ukraine: – A change of pace

It has long been in the cards, and on Wednesday the NATO summit will formally decide that from now on it will not be the US, but NATO that coordinates the arms deliveries to Ukraine.

– That will mean a change of pace. From day one, NATO will make demands on the member states regarding what they will contribute, says a senior NATO source to NTB.

Until now, the support has been more or less ad hoc through the so-called Ramstein group which the US has led.

You are welcome

From the Norwegian side, the measure is welcomed.

– It will be a more systematised work, says Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) to NTB.

– This ensures long-term sustainability and will institutionalize the work to support Ukraine.

Among other things, Nato will establish a separate command center in Wiesbaden in Germany with 700 employees to coordinate both deliveries and training of Ukrainian soldiers.

The measure is considered an important part of the package which is referred to as “a bridge” towards Ukrainian NATO membership.

– Gets tidier

From now on, the NATO countries must both report what they have in stock, what they have sent, and what they have in terms of production capacity.

Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) points out that the change will make things more orderly.

– There has been a lot of different use of numbers. When people have talked regarding support for Ukraine, there has been a mix-up of what has actually been given now and in the long term, what are gifts, what are loans. That you get a more uniform reporting system will make it more orderly compared to Ukraine, and it will give more insight into what the various countries are actually doing, he tells NTB.

– We strongly support this, he adds.

Promises 40 billion euros

In the final declaration from the NATO summit, to be adopted on Wednesday, the NATO countries also promise to support Ukraine militarily with a minimum of 40 billion euros next year, according to Reuters.

This corresponds to just over NOK 460 billion.

It is still a long way from the more long-term commitment that NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has tried to put in place.