There is less and less enthusiasm for further military support for Ukraine on both sides of the Atlantic as the foreign ministers of NATO meet in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 28th and 29th, to talk about the way forward.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said before the meeting: “It’s our obligation to ensure that we provide Ukraine with the weapons they need. We just have to stay the course. This is about also our security interests.”
The war with Russia has entered its twenty-second month, but the frontlines have hardly moved since the summer, and more and more countries question the reasoning behind prolonging the war.
Though there has been talk of possible peace negotiations, Ukraine won’t give into pressure and vows to fight on to liberate one-fifth of the territory Russia has occupied (including the annexation of Crimea in 2014).
At least two European NATO members, Hungary and Slovakia, are opposing the delivery of weapons. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stated before the meeting that NATO “should do everything to avoid a direct NATO-Russia confrontation and to ensure that NATO does not become a belligerent party.” His Slovak counterpart, Juraj Blanár, said, “Fueling this military conflict will not bring a solution.”
But larger countries, such as Germany, while assisting Ukraine on a bilateral basis, have also voiced opposition to a European Union plan to spend €5 billion a year over four years. The Netherlands could be another thorn in Ukraine’s side after the nationalist-sovereigntist Freedom Party (PVV) won recent elections. PVV leaderGeert Wilders said, “Do not let Dutch households pay the price for a war that is not ours.”
The conservative Trumpist wing of the Republican Party in the United States is also delaying the backing in Congress of President Joe Biden’s $61 billion military aid package for Ukraine. Kyiv is fearful that the reelection of Donald Trump in next year’s elections could result in a more isolationist American foreign policy.
However, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said NATO ministers would be “strongly reaffirming our support for Ukraine as it continues to face Russia’s war of aggression.” The United States has provided over $40 billion in security aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.
Other topics on the agenda will most likely be the Israel-Hamas war, illegal migration threatening the borders of NATO members, and Turkey delaying the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership.
