At the NATO summit in July, a document will be approved that will contain a very clear point against sending ground troops to Ukraine, the Italian Corriere della Sera reported, referring to the already prepared draft.
The alliance will continue to help Kiev, but without ground forces. The document also says that NATO will continue to strengthen its eastern flank because of Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine.
300,000 soldiers will be ready to protect NATO's eastern flank if necessary: from the Baltic countries to Bulgaria, the newspaper said.
Perhaps the most key point of the document is the refusal to send troops to Ukraine. A similar idea was announced by French President Emmanuel Macron, but met with disagreement among most members of the Alliance.
Until now, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin led the “Rammstein Coalition”. At the summit in July, however, it will be decided to transfer this task to NATO headquarters in Brussels. This is happening months before the US presidential election.
NATO members are also looking for an opportunity to supply Ukraine with additional "Patriot" anti-aircraft missile systems. According to the calculations of the Ukrainian authorities, 25 such complexes will be enough to protect the entire airspace of the country. However, for now, writes Corriere della Sera, there are preliminary arrangements for the delivery of only two air defense systems - from Germany and Spain. The Netherlands as a whole is ready to provide the “Patriot“ of Ukraine, but discussed the legal aspects, and Poland and Greece refused.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly stated that the Alliance will not send troops to Ukraine. However, Macron has publicly discussed sending troops to Ukraine several times in recent months. Kiev, for its part, has clearly emphasized several times that it does not want Western troops to be sent to Ukraine, but only Western weapons.