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If allies approve the idea, annual flows to Ukraine would effectively triple to $143 billion...
NATO chief Mark Rutte has urged allies to allocate 0.25 percent of their GDP to Ukraine as he seeks to ease growing tensions within the alliance over aid to Kiev. But the proposal, which could unlock tens of billions of dollars in additional aid, is already facing strong resistance from some major NATO members.
The alliance secretary general raised the possibility at a closed-door meeting of NATO ambassadors late last month, said two alliance diplomats and a person familiar with the matter, who were granted anonymity to speak freely about the sensitive issue. He was speaking as part of preparations for the alliance’s upcoming summit in Turkey in July.
"Rutte and many of us want to make sure that support for Ukraine is consistent and predictable ," said one NATO diplomat.
If the allies approve the idea, annual flows to Ukraine would effectively triple to $143 billion, based on the alliance’s own estimate of NATO’s combined GDP. Last year, Ukraine received $45 billion in security assistance from its allies, covering everything from weapons purchases for its military to investments in Ukrainian defense companies and NATO-led efforts to buy American weapons for Kiev.
Rutte's proposal came in part in response to frustration among some capitals that they are doing far more than others to help Kiev, diplomats said. The Nordic and Baltic countries, the Netherlands and Poland are paying a higher percentage of their GDP in military aid to Ukraine than many other allies, according to the Kiel Institute's Head of Support for Ukraine.
Kiel, a German research organization, pointed out that the Nordic countries give far more than their share, the large Western European countries are almost in line with their GDP, while Southern Europe "remains a small donor."
"Those... countries that are really contributing more are raising this issue every time. And if we look at the numbers, it's clear that the burden is not shared equally," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday after a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Brussels.
Rutte is eager to provide support for Ukraine while minimizing divisions within the alliance; aid to Ukraine has been in turmoil since Donald Trump halted almost all new military aid, leaving European countries and other allies to shoulder the full burden of helping Kiev.
"We are going to the Ankara summit, which will focus a lot, of course, on Ukraine, keeping it as strong as possible," Rutte told reporters in Montenegro on Tuesday.
A similar idea was first raised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last year.
“Ukraine is part of Europe’s security and we want 0.25 percent of a given partner country’s GDP to be allocated to our defense industry and domestic production ,” he told reporters last June.
But Rutte’s proposal has sparked skepticism from some allies, including France and the United Kingdom, diplomats said, meaning it is unlikely to proceed in its current form. Any alliance-wide goal would have to be approved by all NATO members. Neither France nor the United Kingdom responded to a request for comment from POLITICO.
The idea of setting a target as a percentage of GDP is just one of several ideas being worked on to deliver a concrete outcome for Ukraine at the July 7-8 summit, the two NATO diplomats said.
“In Ankara, allies need to show Ukraine that NATO supports it in the long term. That means money, weapons and political commitment ,” said a third NATO diplomat.
Further complicating the aid calculations, some NATO allies, which also belong to the EU, want their contributions to the recently approved €90 billion loan for Ukraine, €60 billion of which will go towards military spending, to be taken into account in any future proposal that asks them to raise more money for Kiev, the second alliance diplomat said.
The alliance's foreign ministers are likely to discuss the issue when they meet next week in the southern Swedish city of Helsingborg, the two diplomats said. They added that the meeting could provide an opportunity to assess support for various measures.
"We do not disclose internal discussions, but support for Ukraine remains a priority and NATO will continue to pursue this in the run-up to the summit and beyond," a NATO official told Politico.
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