Rutte: NATO Security Assistance Command for Ukraine will start working by end of year
The new NATO Command for the Coordination of Security Assistance to Ukraine, which is being established in the German city of Wiesbaden by the decision of the Washington Summit, will be fully operational by the end of 2024.
This was stated by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrinform.
"We are working hard to deliver on the commitments made at the Washington Summit in July, including the establishment of a new Command to coordinate security assistance and training for Ukraine, as well as our financial contribution of at least €40 billion in 2024... NSATU (NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine) will be fully operational by the end of the year. Many Allies have already sent their personnel to NSATU. We have to ensure that all vacancies are filled, not on paper, but physically," the Alliance Secretary General said.
According to him, the creation of the new NATO Command in Wiesbaden will allow to achieve maximum efficiency in the Allies' efforts to supply Ukraine with military equipment and to organize training for its military.
"The most important thing is that until this (opening of the NATO Command in Wiesbaden - ed.) is finalized, there should be no interruption in the supply of weapons or training for Ukraine, we cannot afford it. According to the decision in Washington, we have to do everything to make Ukraine fully interoperable with NATO," Rutte emphasized.
The NATO Secretary General noted that the Allies have made significant progress in fulfilling their financial commitments to Ukraine. During the first half of the year, they provided Ukraine with weapons and military equipment worth about 21 billion euros, which is a step towards the target of 40 billion euros per year. According to Rutte, it is clear that the need for such assistance is greater, but NATO Allies are consistently moving towards this goal step by step.
As previously reported, the NSATU Command (NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine), which is responsible for the overall coordination of security assistance to Ukraine, will involve about 700 specialists from Allied countries under the command of a NATO general.
