The new NATO command will specifically be responsible for coordinating Western military assistance to Ukraine and will help Kiev tip the balance on the battlefield
The new command changes Ukraine’s situation – said the NATO leader.
Mark Rutte made this statement because Kiev will face further losses on the Donbass front line.
A new NATO command, whose task will be to coordinate Western military assistance to Ukraine, will help Kiev tip the balance on the battlefield against Russia – said the bloc’s new leader, Mark Rutte.
Rutte, who took over as NATO Secretary General earlier this month after more than a decade as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, made this statement during his first visit to the NATO Security Assistance and Training Ukraine (NSATU) command in Wiesbaden, Germany. He was accompanied by Christopher Cavoli, the U.S. Army general who is NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, as well as other high-ranking officials.
The NATO chief also met with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and spoke to the troops, praising their work.
Rutte claimed that
the new command “will make a real difference for Ukraine on the battlefield and ‘for our own security'” – said the NATO press release.
Rutte also dismissed concerns that the headquarters could become a target for Russia, adding that he is certain NATO will be “able to defend itself if anyone even raises a finger” – quoted by German media.
🔴 NSATU, announced by former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg in July, will have a staff of about 700 and its goal is to provide the military training and equipment designated by the alliance and its partners to Kiev.
The command, essentially with the same mandate as the U.S.-led Ukraine Security Assistance Group, was established amid Western concerns about a possible return to the White House by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The former U.S. president repeatedly criticized the Western approach to the conflict in Ukraine and promised that if elected, he would stop support for Kiev and end hostilities within 24 hours.
Russia has consistently condemned Western arms deliveries to Kiev, arguing that they only prolong the conflict while making NATO a direct participant in hostilities. In early September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow’s advance on the front line in Donbass in recent weeks could be measured in square kilometers. He added that Kiev’s large-scale incursion into the Russian Kursk region did not divert the attention of Russian forces.