Ukraine says NATO funding will only work if mandatory contributions
World
Ukraine supported NATO chief's idea of the alliance providing long-term support to Kyiv.
BRUSSELS (Agencies) - Ukraine on Thursday supported NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg's idea of the alliance providing long-term support to Kyiv, but said the measure would have "zero chance" without obligatory contributions, the European Pravda outlet reported.
Stoltenberg this week proposed creating a 100 billion euro ($107 billion) five-year fund to support Ukraine, an idea that has drawn mixed responses around NATO.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the 32-member alliance had experienced difficulties in raising military assistance of much smaller volumes.
"In other words, in the current funding model, this initiative has zero chances. Because they can't collect 500 million, and here they would have to collect 20 billion in the current model," Kuleba was quoted as saying.
But if all the bloc's members were obliged to contribute, he added, the plan could "exist and has a chance of being implemented".
NATO MEMBERS MUST STICK TOGETHER
The United States and Europe must stick together NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and US President Joe Biden said on Thursday, as the Western military alliance turned 75, in the shadow of an aggressive Russia, and the possibility of Donald Trump's return to power.
The Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 re-invigorated NATO as it was confronted by one of the most serious challenges since it emerged from the ashes of World War II to counter the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact group.
The alliance has bolstered its forces across eastern Europe and grown to 32 members after Finland and Sweden joined its ranks.
