Nato to establish new Kyiv post for Ukraine

NATO will station a senior civilian official in Kyiv, among a raft of new measures designed to shore up long-term support for Ukraine that are expected to be announced at the summit in Washington next week, U.S. and alliance officials say.

The steps seek to buttress Ukraine’s prospects to eventually join the alliance without offering it membership. They come amid a right-wing political surge across Europe and the growing possibility that Donald Trump could return to the White House and reduce American support for Ukraine.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is also establishing a new command in Wiesbaden, Germany, to coordinate the provision of military equipment to Kyiv and the training of Ukrainian troops.

Dubbed NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, the operation will be staffed by nearly 700 U.S. and other allied personnel from across the 32-country alliance. It will take over much of a mission that has been run by the American military since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The new initiatives have been in development for months, but they take on new urgency following President Biden’s weak performance in his televised debate with Trump on Thursday and Trump’s complaints about the money the U.S. has spent on Ukraine.

“A big reason for the change is to Trump-proof the assistance effort to Ukraine," said Ivo Daalder, who served as the U.S. ambassador to NATO from 2009 to 2013. “Rather than having Washington in charge of managing the training and assistance, NATO will be in charge. So even if the U.S. reduces or withdraws support for the effort, it won’t be eliminated."

With far-right parties gaining voter support in France, the Netherlands and across the European Union, the