NATO pledges $43 billion in military aid to support Ukraine

NATO states have agreed to allocate $43 billion in military aid to Ukraine next year, a Western European diplomat told Reuters on Wednesday, just a week before the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Washington, D.C.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg asked member states to maintain military aid to Ukraine at the same level as in previous years since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This amounts to approximately $43 billion annually.

NATO leaders will sign the commitment next week in the U.S. capital.

Seventy-five years ago, 12 countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C., to ensure collective defense in an unpredictable world. This year, 32 NATO allies will meet again to make key decisions on how to continue protecting one billion of their citizens.

At the meeting next week, NATO leaders will discuss a wide range of issues facing the Alliance and ensure that NATO remains ready to respond to any challenge.

“At the summit in Washington, D.C., we will once again demonstrate NATO's unity and strength by supporting Ukraine and taking care of the security of all our people and values,” said Stoltenberg earlier.

Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said on Radio Zet that at the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., the Polish delegation would seek to establish a NATO unit in Bydgoszcz and strengthen the eastern flank. He emphasized that Poland is going to the summit as a model for defense spending.

“We currently have 12,000 foreign soldiers, we are building the 'Tusk Shield,' and we need to strengthen our air and missile defense,” Sikorski noted. He clarified that it is the East Shield.

The East Shield program, with a budget of $2.4 billion, will be implemented between 2024 and 2028. It includes preparations for defending border areas by increasing so-called surprise resistance capabilities, including building a detection, warning, and tracking system based on networks of base stations, forward operating bases (logistics hubs), networks of bunkers/shelters for striking systems, and developing infrastructure for anti-drone systems.