NATO Takes Over Coordination Of Military Aid To Ukraine To Replace The United States

NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. (Wikimedia Commons/US Department of State)

JAKARTA - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) took over the coordination of Western military aid to Ukraine previously carried out by the United States as planned, a source on Tuesday, a move widely seen as aimed at protecting the mechanism of support for US President-elect Donald Trump who is skeptical of the alliance.

The move, which came after months of delay, put NATO in a more direct role in the fight against the Russian invasion while not involving its own forces.

However, diplomats admit the handover to NATO may have limited effect considering the US under Trump can still provide a major setback for Ukraine by cutting its support, as they are the alliance's dominant force and providing most weapons to Kyiv.

The new NATO mission headquarters in Ukraine, dubbed NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), is located at Clay Barracks, a US base in Wiesbaden City, Germany.

Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters the headquarters is now fully operational. No public reason was given for the delay.

Meanwhile, NATO military headquarters SHAPE said its mission in Ukraine began to take over responsibility from the US and international organizations.

"The NSATU work is designed to put Ukraine in a strong position, which puts NATO in a strong position to maintain the security and well-being of one billion of its population in Europe and North America," said US Army Supreme Commander-in-Chief General Christopher G. Cavoli.

"This is a good day for Ukraine and a good day for NATO," he added.

Trump, who will take office in January, said he wanted to end the war in Ukraine quickly, but had not yet told how he would do it.

The Republican politician has long criticized the scale of US financial and military aid to Ukraine.

In the past, the US-led Ramstein group, the ad hoc coalition of about 50 countries, had coordinated the supply of the Western military to Kyiv.

Trump threatened to leave NATO during his first term as president, demanding allies should spend 3 percent of the national GDP on their military, compared to NATO's target of 2 percent.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden's administration, which will step down in Washington, is trying hard to send as many weapons as possible to Kyiv, amid concerns that Trump will cut shipments of military hardware to Ukraine.

NSATU will have a total power of about 700 personnel, including troops stationed at NATO SHAPE military headquarters in Belgium and at logistics centers in Poland and Romania.

Separately, Russia condemned the increase in Western military aid to Ukraine for risking a wider war.