Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Canada have blocked a proposal by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to oblige allies to allocate at least 0.25% of GDP to military aid to Ukraine, The Telegraph reports, citing an alliance source.
According to the publication, Rutte had hoped to reach agreement on the initiative at the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara. However, he admitted this week that the plan was unlikely to be submitted for approval due to insufficient support. "I don't think this proposal will be put forward," the secretary-general said, without naming the countries that opposed it.
A source for The Telegraph reported that the initiative is supported by at least seven NATO countries that already spend more than 0.25% of GDP on military aid to Ukraine. Decisions within the alliance require the consent of all member states.
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, cited by the newspaper, the largest donors to Ukraine as of January 2022 remain the United States (115.4 billion euros), Germany (25.3 billion euros) and the United Kingdom (20 billion euros). London's contribution to military aid to Ukraine amounts to approximately 0.1% of GDP. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had previously promised to provide Kiev with at least £3 billion a year.
The Telegraph notes that criticism has been directed most often at Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Canada, which their allies accuse of insufficient support for Kiev. According to the Kiel Institute, France has allocated €7.9 billion to Ukraine, Italy €4.1 billion, Spain €2.2 billion and Canada €14 billion.
Rutte previously said that aid to Ukraine within NATO was unevenly distributed, with some countries “underspending”.
In mid-May, Rutte proposed that allies allocate 0.25% of GDP annually to aid Ukraine. The initiative, however, has met with resistance from several major alliance countries, Politico reported in mid-May, citing diplomats and sources.
According to the publication, Rutte raised the issue at a closed-door meeting of NATO ambassadors in preparation for the alliance's summit in Turkey in July. One diplomat explained that the proposal is intended to make support for Kiev "consistent and predictable."
Politico notes that if the initiative is approved, annual aid to Ukraine could almost triple to $143 billion.
According to sources, the initiative is a response to dissatisfaction among some allies with the uneven distribution of costs for supporting Ukraine. According to the Kiel Institute, Scandinavian countries allocate more than their nominal share to Kiev, while large Western European countries allocate roughly in proportion to the size of their economies, while Southern Europe remains among the less active donors.
The idea of allocating 0.25% of partner countries' GDP to Kiev was previously proposed by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.