NATO countries allocate over $7 million to support women in Ukrainian Armed Forces

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this at a reception after the NATO Women, Peace, Security roundtable, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reports.

Blinken stated that today a step is being taken to provide Ukrainian female soldiers with necessary equipment, with NATO member countries allocating over $7 million for this purpose.

Negotiations with NATO on additional funding have been underway since 2023. 

The NATO summit: details

The 75th summit of the North Atlantic Alliance is scheduled to take place on July 9-11 in Washington, DC.

On April 27, former NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller said that the July NATO summit in Washington would consider Ukraine's accession to the Alliance. At the same time, Gottemoeller explained that some members of the Alliance currently believe that Ukraine should not join NATO while the war is ongoing. 

On June 23, Radio Liberty's British correspondent reported that the UK is initiating a series of talks with the US and Germany ahead of the NATO summit in Washington to persuade them to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance. The correspondent emphasized that the UK continues to use its foreign policy influence to help Ukraine.

The New York Times reported that NATO will announce a mission to help Ukraine at a summit in the United States. The NYT noted that Ukraine will not start membership talks at the upcoming NATO summit, but the Alliance will announce a structure to coordinate assistance in the long term.

On July 5, US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said that during the upcoming NATO summit in Washington, the allies would raise the issue of strengthening Ukraine's air defense and integrating the country into the Alliance.

The draft joint communiqué of the North Atlantic Alliance calls Ukraine's path to NATO membership "irreversible."

On Tuesday, July 9, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the NATO Summit in Washington, DC.

The United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Romania announced the supply of 4 Patriot air defense systems, SAMP-T systems, and announced the provision of other shorter-range air defense systems to Ukraine.