Stoltenberg: Tasks for NATO summit: reliable financial assistance for Ukraine, strengthening Alliance defence, deepening cooperation with allies
The main tasks at the NATO summit in Washington will be to provide long-term financial assistance to Ukraine, allocate funds for the Alliance's defence, and deepen cooperation with non-Allied allies in the Asia-Pacific region.
According to Censor.NET, citing Ukrinform, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told journalists about this before a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
"The main issue will be Ukraine... We have agreed on a plan for defence support and training, and we need to work out the issue of financial assistance," Stoltenberg said.
He reminded that his proposal is to allocate 40 billion euros annually to Ukraine by the allies, because Ukraine needs resources to counter the Russian aggressor, and this assistance should be long-term, transparent and predictable.
According to him, in Washington, the allies will also discuss the funds that NATO countries should allocate for defence. He pointed out that many NATO countries have increased their spending, noting that the minimum defence spending among NATO countries is now 2% of GDP. The NATO Secretary General noted that Washington will send a message that countries should further increase their defence spending.
Stoltenberg also said that the third important task for the summit will be to deepen relations with Asia-Pacific allies - Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea - in light of the security challenges posed by China.
The NATO Summit will take place on 9-11 July in Washington, DC.
To recap, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the NATO Summit would be unproductive if the issue of inviting Ukraine to join the Alliance is not resolved.
