As of: February 10, 2024, 9:13 a.m
By: Tadhg Nagel
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Military aid for Ukraine should become the responsibility of NATO - out of fear of Donald Trump's election victory.
The move could anger Russia.
Brussels – NATO apparently wants to take the coordination of arms deliveries to Ukraine into its own hands in the future.
Possibly to make the aid less dependent on changes in US policy – it would be a change of course of historic proportions.
In concrete terms, this means that NATO supposedly wants to make the military aid of the Ramstein format its own task in the future.
This is reported by
Handelsblatt
, citing Western government representatives and diplomats.
One reason for this is concern about Donald Trump's possible return to the White House.
NATO is worried about Trump – he could bring the alliance down
So far, military support for Ukraine has been coordinated from the US “Ramstein Air Base” in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Representatives from 50 countries meet there regularly to discuss aid deliveries.
However, there have also been meetings in other places, for example in the run-up to the NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels or virtually via video conference.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Donald Trump during Trump's first term in office.
© IMAGO/Shealah D. Craighead
However, this could come to an end if Donald Trump emerges victorious in the US presidential election in 2024.
The Republican Party is already blocking new military aid for Ukraine in Congress - with Donald Trump as President, this could come to a complete standstill.
There are also fears that Trump could severely restrict US participation in NATO if he wins the election.
During his last term in office, he had already almost brought down what he considered to be an “obsolete” alliance.
Aid for Ukraine from NATO - but not sovereign decisions by the individual member states?
Until now, NATO had always emphasized that aid to Ukraine was a sovereign decision by the individual member states - probably also in order not to anger Russia.
Nevertheless, the step could prove to be useful.
In addition, NATO's assessment of Russia's view of military aid to Ukraine has now changed.
From a Russian perspective, it is clear that the alliance is involved in the conflict - after all, almost all NATO countries are now supplying weapons for defense in the Ukraine war.
Therefore, according to Handelsblatt
, it is
now considered advisable to integrate the Ramstein format into NATO structures in order to prepare for the possible change of power in Washington.
Before the project can be implemented, NATO must still discuss the step drawn up by US security advisor Jake Sullivan and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
According to information from the newspaper, this should happen in a few days.
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NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg is convinced - the Federal Government is skeptical
Stoltenberg is convinced of the measure and has been pushing it internally for a long time, even if he externally tries to downplay concerns about Trump's return, it said.
“I believe that the United States will continue to be a solid NATO ally regardless of the outcome of the elections because this is in the interests of the United States,” Stoltenberg recently told the US broadcaster
CNN
.
However, the federal government is skeptical about the move,
Handelsblatt
reported .
There is a fear that such a project will serve the Kremlin's narrative that NATO is waging war against Russia.
Berlin also said that the Ramstein format could better integrate those states that are not NATO members.
(
tpn
)