NATO foreign ministers discuss €100bn Ukraine military aid plan|[World

Brussels [Belgium], April 4: Foreign ministers from NATO's 32 member states met in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss a proposed €100bn ($108bn) fund for long-term military support to Ukraine.
"The secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has proposed creating an envelope of €100bn over five years," Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib told reporters ahead of the meeting at NATO headquarters. "We'll analyse the feasibility of this proposal."
At the moment, NATO itself is not officially providing any lethal aid to Ukraine's defensive war against Russia's invasion of its territory. Instead, NATO member states have been coordinating military aid through the Ukraine Contact Group, an initiative chaired by the United States. But a proposal from Stoltenberg would see that role transferred to NATO proper, along with creating a €100bn five-year fund Ukraine.
"We must ensure reliable and predictable security assistance to Ukraine for a long haul so that we rely less on voluntary contributions and more on NATO commitments, less on short-term offers and more on multi-year pledges," he said.
In a press conference on Wednesday following the first day of the two-day meeting, Stoltenberg said that NATO taking responsibility for the aid does not make it a party to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
"NATO is and will remain a defensive alliance," he said. "This is a war of aggression by Russia invading another country, violating international law. Then Ukraine has the right, according to international law, to defend itself. We, as friends of Ukraine, we have the right to support Ukraine in upholding the right for self-defense, also based on international law. That doesn't make us party to the conflict." Diplomats say the proposal is intended to protect the support provided by the Ukraine Contact Group from former US president Donald Trump, who could be returned to the White House by elections due to be held in November.
There are doubts about Trump's willingness to support Ukraine in the long term, particularly after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a Trump ally, said the former president "will not give a penny" to the Ukrainian war effort.
Speaking to the press ahead of the meeting, however, Stoltenberg refused to be drawn on whether his proposal had anything to do with the possible return of Trump. He said the point is to make military aid to Ukraine more stable and predictable.
"We must ensure reliable and predictable security assistance to Ukraine for a long haul so that we rely less on voluntary contributions and more on NATO commitments, less on short-term offers and more on multi-year pledges," he said.
Source: Qatar Tribune