"The Door Is Open"... NATO to Expand Aid to Ukraine

"Russia's Persistent and Immoral Attacks" Condemned
US Supports 70.5 Billion Won Power Infrastructure Restoration

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has decided to expand military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Emphasizing Ukraine's status as a potential security ally, which has been fighting against Russia for 10 months, NATO reiterated its commitment to increase support not only in military assistance but also in non-lethal aid.

According to the UK’s BBC and others on the 29th (local time), NATO foreign ministers met at the Romanian Parliament in Bucharest to discuss strengthening Ukraine’s air defense systems and restoring energy infrastructure severely damaged by Russia’s large-scale missile and drone attacks.

At this meeting, NATO also agreed to provide non-lethal support such as fuel, generators, and medical supplies. In a statement after the meeting, the foreign ministers said, "Russia’s persistent and immoral attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure have deprived millions of Ukrainians of their basic rights," and emphasized, "We will strengthen political and practical support to help Ukraine defend its territorial sovereignty and maintain support as long as necessary."

Russia, facing setbacks in ground battles such as in Kherson and after the Crimean Bridge was attacked, has focused airstrikes on energy infrastructure like power plants since early last month. Despite the onset of severe cold weather, many power plants have been destroyed, and the disrupted electricity and heating supply are expected to be restored only by March next year. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that "hundreds of Ukrainians’ lives could be at risk this winter."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba appealed, "What we need most are air defense systems like IRIS, Hawks, and Patriots, as well as transformers." He added, "With transformers and generators, we can restore energy facilities, and with air defense networks, we can prevent Russia’s next attacks."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg strongly criticized President Putin before the meeting, saying he is trying to use winter as a weapon of war. Foreign Minister James Cleverly also condemned President Putin for targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, saying, "He wants to freeze Ukraine into submission."

NATO foreign ministers reaffirmed the 14-year-old summit stance supporting Ukraine’s NATO membership. The NATO summit held in Bucharest in April 2008 supported Ukraine’s NATO membership, but no subsequent measures were taken to implement this.

Before presiding over the meeting, Secretary General Stoltenberg mentioned, "NATO’s door is open," and the foreign ministers reiterated their support for Ukraine’s NATO membership. However, since Crimea has been annexed by Russia and Russian troops and pro-Russian separatists occupy southern and eastern Ukraine, making borders unclear, it is expected that Ukraine’s NATO membership will be difficult in the near future.

Discussions also continued on restoring Ukraine’s destroyed energy infrastructure. Germany, the chair of the Group of Seven (G7), plans to hold a meeting with other partners to accelerate the reconstruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, coinciding with this NATO foreign ministers’ meeting. Secretary General Stoltenberg said, "Everyone must have seen satellite images showing the darkened areas of Ukraine. We face a tremendous task to rebuild all of this."

The United States is working with European countries to install equipment to restore high-voltage substations destroyed by Russian missile attacks. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that over $53 million (approximately 70.5 billion KRW) in funding will be provided to Ukraine to purchase equipment for power infrastructure restoration, including transformers and circuit breakers.

While the specific types and scale of support have not been disclosed, some countries have sent generators to Ukraine as a means to stabilize the power grid.