NATO foreign ministers are meeting today to discuss ways to maintain long-term support for Ukraine, including a proposal by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that would create a five-year fund of more than $100 billion for Kyiv, as well as gradually move the so-called Ramstein Group—a U.S.-led coalition—under the alliance’s control. (Reuters)
Our Take
Stoltenberg has pitched his proposal as a way to shield support for Ukraine “against the winds of political change,” a thinly-veiled reference to the possibility of a second term for former U.S. President Donald Trump. The Republican Party has already obstructed Biden administration efforts to send further aid to Ukraine, and Trump’s comments that, if elected, he would end the war “in one day” have raised fears that a second Trump term would mean Washington’s support for Kyiv is cut off permanently.
Those fears have come to dominate security conversations among U.S. allies, especially in Europe, leading to a scramble among European policymakers to achieve military self-reliance. That includes EU plans to increase arms production and develop a more cohesive European security structure, theoretically allowing Brussels to step up as Kyiv’s security guarantor if Washington steps back.