Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
Nato could play a key role assisting a proposed European military mission to guarantee a peace deal in Ukraine under plans being sketched out by a coalition of Kyiv’s western allies.
Nato’s command and control structures would be used in a deployment of a so-called reassurance force in Ukraine, under one proposal being debated in talks led by France and the UK, five officials briefed on the plans told the Financial Times. Under the proposal, the force would also tap the alliance’s shared intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.
The proposal was one of multiple options under discussion and could be altered before any final agreement, the officials said.
Nato’s involvement is also seen by supporters of the reassurance force as a way to indirectly involve the US in the endeavour and secure Washington’s tacit support. President Donald Trump has refused to take part in any European-led mission directly, but US military capabilities in Europe are integral to all of Nato’s operations.
“If we are going to deploy assets from dozens of countries [to Ukraine], then Nato is really the only [command and control] option that we can use,” said one of the officials.
The force is intended to reassure Ukraine of European commitment to its security if a ceasefire with Russia is implemented, while deterring Moscow from attacking again.
The “coalition” discussions led by Paris and London involving the leaders and ministers of some 30 nations have repeatedly stressed that some form of US “backstop” is crucial to any deployment. The US is not a member of the coalition.
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte has attended the leaders’ talks and sent senior Nato officials to technical-level meetings of the group. Nato’s Brussels headquarters will also host the next meeting of coalition defence ministers next week.
“Politicians and diplomats don’t really know what it means to actually run something like this,” said another of the officials. “You need the military guys there from the outset.”
Britain and France are the two European countries that have command and control facilities, including standing and deployable headquarters, to run a sizeable multinational military deployment in Ukraine, according Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
But, he said, “If you can make use of Nato assets and mechanisms it is going to make it a lot simpler and easier.”
In a paper published earlier this week, the IISS concluded that UK, France and its partners would be able to muster and sustain a small or medium-sized force of between 10,000 and 25,000 men, together with air power and naval support.
But it would be weaker and more vulnerable without US intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
“Without US ISR it would be at much greater risk and its ability to detect threats would go down,” said Barry.
Nato also has its own fleets of E-3 Awacs early warning and surveillance aircraft and of refuelling planes, which European militaries would want for a prolonged or large-scale mission in Ukraine.
Nato’s command and control structures and other assets can be used for non-Nato missions, including ones run by the EU. But it requires unanimous approval of the alliance’s members.
Some of the coalition’s members are reticent about involving the military alliance in any final proposal given Trump’s stated aversion to any form of involvement in Ukraine after agreeing a ceasefire.
Some countries, including Italy, have instead called for the UN to play a co-ordinating role in peacekeeping operations. That has been opposed by others wary of Russia and China’s vetoes at the UN Security Council.
Additional reporting Richard Milne in Oslo
