NATO is sorting out the coordination of military aid to Ukraine from the US – Reuters

NATO has taken over coordination of Western military aid to Ukraine from the United States as planned, a source said on Tuesday, in a move that many see as aimed at protecting the support mechanism from NATO-skeptic US President-elect Donald Trump, Reuters reports. UNN.

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“This step, taken after a delay of several months, gives NATO a more direct role in the war against the invasion of Russia, while not involving its own forces,” the newspaper writes.

However, the diplomats, as indicated, “recognize that the transfer of NATO powers may have a limited effect, given that the US under Trump can still deal a major blow to Ukraine by reducing its support, since it is the dominant force in the alliance and supplies most of the weapons to Kiev.”

The headquarters of the new NATO mission in Ukraine, named NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), is located at the American Clay Barracks base in the German city of Wiesbaden, the publication notes.

“A person familiar with the situation told Reuters that it is now fully operational. No public reasons for the delays have been announced,” the newspaper writes.

NATO’s SHAPE military headquarters announced that its mission in Ukraine is beginning to take over responsibilities from the US and international organizations.

“The work of NSATU … is aimed at putting Ukraine in a position of strength that puts NATO in a position of strength to ensure the security and prosperity of its billion people in both Europe and North America,” said US Army General Christopher H. Cavoli, Supreme Commander of the NATO Armed Forces in Europe.

“This is a good day for Ukraine and a good day for NATO,” he said.

“NSATU is expected to have a total strength of about 700 people, including troops stationed at NATO’s SHAPE military headquarters in Belgium and logistics centers in Poland and Romania,” the newspaper said.

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In the past, the US-led Ramstein-style group, an ad hoc coalition of some 50 countries named after the US air base in Germany where it first met, coordinated Western military supplies to Ukraine.

Trump, who will take office in January, has said he wants to end the war in Ukraine quickly, but has not said how he wants to do that. He has long criticized the scale of US financial and military aid to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the outgoing Biden administration in Washington is scrambling to send as many weapons as possible to Kyiv amid fears that Trump may cut military supplies to Ukraine.