Britain rejects Nato plan for extra Ukraine military aid
Baku, May 25, AZERTAC
Britain and France have scuppered a proposal for Nato allies to spend 0.25 per cent of GDP on military aid for Ukraine, according to Telegraph.
Mark Rutte, the alliance’s secretary-general, this week conceded his plan wouldn’t be taken forward because it didn’t have sufficient support.
“I don’t think this one will be proposed,” he told reporters, without naming the opponents. But now The Telegraph can reveal that the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Canada blocked the idea when it was floated in discussions for how to boost support for Kyiv. Mr Rutte was hoping to ratify the proposal at Nato’s upcoming annual summit in Ankara, Turkey. Ministers this week began discussions over what the alliance’s civilian chief believes should be a tangible show of support for the war-torn nation. An alliance insider said at least seven member states, who all spend over 0.25 per cent of GDP on military aid to Ukraine, had voiced support. But any proposals adopted by Nato require the unanimous backing of all of its national capitals. “They’re not very enthusiastic about the idea,” the insider said, labelling London, Paris, Madrid, Rome and Ottawa as opponents. The news will come as a double-blow to Britain’s credibility as one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies. This week, the Government came under intense criticism after it softened sanctions against Russian oil and gas exports. o the surprise of Kyiv and other allies, ministers signed off on a decision to offer time-limited carve-outs for purchases of jet fuel and diesel refined from Russian crude in third countries because of the situation in the Middle East.
Unlike other allies, the size of Britain’s military contribution – the third largest behind the US and Germany – is not in question, despite coming under the 0.25 per cent of GDP mark. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has pledged at least £3bn a year – approximately 0.1 per cent – for the foreseeable future. Most of the complaints are focused on the likes of France, Spain, Italy and Canada, who have been repeatedly accused of not pulling their weight. The countries, three of which are Europe’s third, fourth and fifth largest economies, have fallen behind many of their smaller allies when it comes to donations. According to publicly available data, collated by the Kiel Institute, the Netherlands, Poland and the Nordic and Baltic countries offer backing at or above 0.25 per cent of GDP. Mr Rutte has argued that Ukraine aid “is not evenly distributed within Nato”, with many “not spending enough when it comes to the support for Ukraine”.
The Nato chief, who spent 14 years as Dutch prime minister, has long argued that Europe should shoulder more of the responsibility for supporting Ukraine in defence of Donald Trump’s complaints about continental freeloading.
The US president has since halted any significant donations of aid to Ukraine, instead opting to sell American weapons to Kyiv with money supplied by European allies. Ahead of a Nato meeting in Sweden earlier this week, the Nordic state’s prime minister challenged allies to step up their support. “I really would like more countries that speak so extremely well about Ukraine to also put the money where the mouth is,” Ulf Kristersson told reporters. An Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: “The UK continues to engage with Nato allies on all proposals to ensure the alliance can best support Ukraine.” Representatives from France, Italy, Spain and Canada did not respond to The Telegraph’s requests for comment.
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