What did NATO really promise to Ukraine?
Kyiv, September 07 (PolitNavigator, Yuriy Kovalchuk) – Ukrainian politicians vying with each other to talk about the fact that NATO countries are ready to provide military assistance to Ukraine.
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There is talk about precision weapons and almost airplanes and cruise missiles, although in reality the assistance that the alliance is actually ready to provide is much more modest. Moreover, many Western media criticized US President Barack Obama and the NATO leadership, considering the assistance provided to Ukraine to be ridiculous.
Thus, the topic of creating trust funds, from which the work of instructors and consultants on the modernization of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be financed, is widely played out on the Internet. In total, these funds will be financed at the level of 16 million USD. On the Internet, this figure is compared with the expenses of celebrities, who can spend much more on a wedding or birthday.
At the same time, official Washington published a press release “Fact sheet: NATO and US Efforts in Support of NATO Partners, Including Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia,” which clearly indicates the volume of assistance that will be provided to Ukraine. In order to avoid further populism, it is logical to publish an excerpt from this document directly related to Ukraine.
“Since March 2014, the United States has responded to Ukrainian requests for non-lethal assistance to ensure security and strengthen stability in Ukraine. As of mid-August, we announced $60 million in support to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, State Border Service, and National Guard. Supplies so far have included rations, body armor, radios, vehicles, thermal imaging cameras, medical supplies, explosive disposal robots, uniforms and personal tactical equipment. At the end of 2014, additional deliveries of night vision devices, additional communications equipment and helmets are planned. Going forward, we will analyze Ukraine's military needs in order to plan future funding for the highest priority requirements.
In addition, joint exercises with the Ukrainian military are planned for September 2014: “Sea Breeze” and “Rapid Trident”...
We have also taken an initiative to help Ukraine reform its defense institutions. There will be multi-level consultations in areas such as defense institution building, cyber defence, logistics and standardization. Ukraine will also be provided with assistance in developing a new defense strategy and further development of the National Guard.”
This concludes the part of the document directly devoted to Ukraine. As you can see, we are not talking about any high-precision weapons.
To be fair, it should be noted that during the summit, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced Italy’s readiness to sell 90 Iveco armored vehicles to Ukraine. But we are talking about sales, not free assistance, and the Ukrainian budget is in such a deplorable state that the purchase of armored vehicles seems far from the highest priority and a very unlikely direction.
So, for now we will have to limit ourselves to consultations and wait for helmets and night vision devices promised by November-December.
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