April 02, 2024
Trump-Proofing Weapons for Ukraine: Allies Consider Moving Arms Group into NATO
Source: POLITICO
Journalists: Paul McLeary, Lara Seligman, Stuart Lau
Formalizing the group within NATO would go a long way toward protecting support for Ukraine from changes in U.S. and Western governments, experts said — and particularly from Trump.
“There’s a feeling among, not the whole group but a part of the NATO group, that thinks it is better to institutionalize the process just in case of a Trump re-election,” said Jim Townsend, a former Pentagon and NATO official. “And that’s something that the U.S. is going to have to get used to hearing, because that is a fear, and a legitimate one.
“Pulling this under NATO kind of isolates it from a Trump presidency, or even from a U.S. that might get distracted by China and can’t keep it going or can’t get his own funding act together,” he added.
If successful, the move would be the latest among a series of actions taken to shore up institutions in anticipation of another Trump presidency. Late last year, lawmakers approved a law to require congressional approval if a future president tried to pull out of NATO, and are considering further protection measures.
Read the full story from POLITICO.