UPDATE - NATO agrees on plan to coordinate security assistance, training for Ukraine

ADDS MORE REMARKS BY NATO CHIEF

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - NATO's top official said Friday that defense ministers of NATO members have agreed on a plan to coordinate security assistance and training for Ukraine.

Speaking in Brussels, Jens Stoltenberg announced that member states agreed on a plan that sets out how NATO will lead the coordination of security assistance and training which will allow the alliance leaders to launch this effort at the Washington Summit in July.

His remarks came at a closing news conference of the two-day NATO defense ministers meeting, the last ministerial meeting before the NATO summit in Washington next month.

Stoltenberg went on to say that NATO security assistance and training will provide Ukraine with better-coordinated support.

"It will consist of a NATO command, located at a US facility in Wiesbaden, and at Logistical nodes in the Eastern part of the Alliance under a 3-Star General reporting to Supreme Allied Commander Europe, SACEUR," he said.

He noted that across the alliance, this effort is expected to involve nearly 700 personnel from NATO and partner countries.

"NATO will oversee training of Ukrainian armed forces at training facilities in Allied countries, support Ukraine through the planning and coordination of donations; manage transfer and repair of equipment, provide support to the long-term development of Ukraine’s Armed Forces," he also said.

Stoltenberg underlined that these efforts do not make NATO a party to the conflict, but that they will enhance the alliance's support to Ukraine to uphold its right to self-defense.

"By having NATO in the lead role, we are ensuring that the support is more robust, more coherent and that we ensure interoperability," he added.

However, Stoltenberg also said the allies have not yet agreed on a long-term financial pledge.

"We need not only to have short-term pledges, they are welcome of course, but if we could have more long-term predictable pledges, it will give the Ukrainians a better planning assumption," he noted.

- 'Ongoing campaign of hostile acts'

During the meeting, ministers also addressed the "ongoing campaign of hostile acts" that Russia is conducting against NATO members, Stoltenberg said.

He stated that the ministers agreed on a set of response options on which allies will draw individually and collectively.

"This includes increased intelligence exchange, enhanced protection of critical infrastructure, including undersea and in cyber space, and further restrictions on Russian intelligence operatives," added Stoltenberg.

The NATO chief highlighted that in recent weeks, there has been "a surge of sabotage, cyber-attacks, instrumentalized migration and other hostile actions by Russia."

"Russia's campaign will not deter us from supporting Ukraine," he said, adding they will continue to protect NATO territories against hostile actions.

About initiatives toward supplying air defense systems to Ukraine, the NATO chief noted that they will work closely with allies to ensure the delivery of more advanced air defense systems to Ukraine.

In response to a question about Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal outlining Russia's conditions for ending the war, Stoltenberg said the proposal means that Russia should have the right to occupy even more Ukrainian land.

"It's not for Ukraine to withdraw forces from Ukrainian territory. It's for Russia to withdraw their forces from occupied Ukrainian land," he said, adding that this proposal actually means that Russia should have the right to occupy even more Ukrainian land or the four provinces that they claim are not Ukrainian.

"So this just demonstrates that this is not a proposal made in good faith. But this is a proposal that actually means that Russia should achieve their war games aims by expecting that Ukraine should give up significantly more land than Russia has been able to occupy so far."

He added: "So, this is not a peace proposal. This is a proposal of more aggression, more occupation."

- '500,000 troops at high readiness across all domains'

Saying that allies are offering forces to NATO’s command "at a scale not seen in decades," he stressed that today, the alliance has 500,000 troops at high readiness across all domains, significantly more than the goal that was set at the 2022 Madrid Summit.

"The growing threats we face demand significantly increased capability requirements from Allies, in areas such as weapons and ammunition, air and missile defence, logistics and long-range weapons."

As an example, he further went on to say that over the next five years, NATO allies across Europe and Canada plan to acquire thousands of air defense and artillery systems, 850 modern aircraft, mostly 5th generation F-35s, and also a lot of high-end capabilities.

"We also continue to invest in innovation, including more than 1 billion dollars in the NATO Innovation Fund," he added.

Stoltenberg also mentioned that at the summit in July, allies are expected to endorse a new Defence Industrial Pledge to send a signal of sustainable demand to the industry.