The sign-off confirmation comes following a deal between NATO and Budapest that allows Hungary — the European country most closely aligned with Moscow — to drop out of the new mechanism.
“Tomorrow [Friday], I expect ministers will agree the plan for NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, a key deliverable for the NATO Summit,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday at a press conference.
“The good news is that allies are stepping up; but Ukraine needs predictable support for the long term,” Stoltenberg added.
POLITICO first reported in February that the allies were mulling such a move out of fear that Trump, if re-elected president, could derail the system for providing Ukraine with aid.
The plan, which is expected to be approved at Friday’s meeting of defense ministers, has already been agreed by NATO ambassadors, a senior alliance official said.
Up to 500 NATO soldiers will now take part in what has so far been a U.S.-dominated working group, a NATO diplomat said.
