Stoltenberg suggests NATO countries provide Ukraine with EUR 500 million per year

Bloomberg reported the information, citing its sources.

The NATO chief wants the allies to increase contributions to the Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine (CAP) fund, which provides short-term assistance, including fuel, protective equipment, and means of countering Russian invasion.

The CAP also aims to provide Ukraine with long-term support to modernize its armed forces and achieve NATO interoperability standards.

At the same time, the details of Stoltenberg's proposal, according to Bloomberg's sources, have yet to be finalized.

According to the agency, assisting Ukraine in the transition to NATO standards could also help the allies provide lethal support by supplying modern weapons as the stockpile of Soviet equipment is depleted.

The total amount of assistance provided by NATO and its members to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war has already exceeded EUR 150 billion.

The Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine (CAP) was launched after the NATO Summit in Warsaw in 2016. It is aimed at providing non-lethal assistance and improving the interoperability of the Ukrainian military with Alliance standards. Lethal assistance is provided by individual NATO member states.

On Monday, April 3, the NATO Secretary General said that on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of the Alliance member states would agree to launch a multi-year assistance program for Ukraine, which will include support after the war with Russia.

• Earlier, on April 3, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Russia's intention to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus is an attempt to intimidate the West, but NATO will not succumb to nuclear blackmail.