Defense ministers in the NATO alliance have agreed to play a greater role in coordinating military aid for Ukraine. They concluded two days of talks in Brussels on Friday.
The ministers have seen Russia seize the initiative on the battlefield. They know that delays in their arms deliveries and funding to Ukraine is a cause, so they gathered to discuss a plan to provide training and procure weapons for the long term.
They will coordinate those efforts by bringing together about 700 personnel at a command post in Germany. They hope to finalize the details at a meeting of NATO leaders next month in Washington.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said those efforts will not make NATO “a party to the conflict” but will enhance their support to Ukraine to “uphold its right to self-defense.”
The ministers agreed this is a “critical moment” in the war. They said not only is Ukraine’s survival on the line but also the security of all alliance members. Still, they have not been able to agree on Stoltenberg’s proposal to continue contributing more than 40 billion dollars per year going forward.
On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with officials of the Foreign Ministry in Moscow and told them Western countries are bringing the world closer to what he calls “the point of no return.”
He set his conditions for peace talks, which include the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the four regions Russia has annexed during the war and for Ukraine to drop its bid to join NATO. He said if Kyiv and the West reject the proposal, then they would bear the “political and moral responsibility” for continuing the “bloodshed.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded by saying no one should trust Putin’s messages, adding that the Russian leader knows the majority of the world is on the Ukraine’s side.