(HorizonPost.com) – NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Monday that the delays in delivering arms to Ukraine have hurt Kyiv’s faith in its NATO allies.
Stoltenberg, who visited Kyiv on Monday, said the failures confirmed that improvements were needed in the international coordination of arms and equipment deliveries.
The NATO chief called for “a more robust, institutionalized framework” that would make support more predictable while ensuring further accountability and “burden-sharing.”
Stoltenberg noted the six-month delay before Congress authorized the $60 billion supplemental aid package to Ukraine and the shortfall in deliveries from European countries as two examples. He said the fact that NATO has failed to deliver what it promised “has put a dent” into Kyiv’s trust in its Western allies.
Following his meeting with Stoltenberg on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said so far, he had not seen anything to suggest Ukraine would receive “timely support” for its military. He said while supplies have “slightly begun,” the process must be accelerated.
Stoltenberg suggested that one solution to prevent shortfalls in aid was for Ukraine to give NATO a larger role in coordinating deliveries, including drawing up multi-year aid plans that would clarify what each NATO ally was expected to provide.
The secretary-general recently proposed such a plan, suggesting a five-year program worth €100 billion.
He said a multi-year plan would make it clear what each NATO ally would be expected to deliver while ensuring that NATO is playing a larger role in coordinating deliveries.
Currently, the West’s military support for the war is organized by the US-led Ramstein group.
Earlier this month, NATO countries gave the green light for military planners to move forward with Stoltenberg’s five-year plan. However, some governments, including Hungary, have expressed concern that such a plan would take NATO closer to war with Russia.
However, the secretary-general argued that the plan would be an investment in the security of each NATO country and insisted that the proposed price tag was still only a fraction of what the US and its allies spent in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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