NATO Appoints Senior Official To Represent Alliance in Ukraine

The alliance pledged to station a civilian official in Kyiv during the NATO summit in Washington

On Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced the alliance was appointing a senior official to represent its interests in Ukraine, following up on a commitment made during last week’s summit in Washington.

Stoltenberg said the role would be filled by Patrick Turner, a British official who, according to a NATO press release, “previously served as NATO Assistant Secretary General for Operations and as Assistant Secretary-General for Defence Policy and Planning, as well as in a range of senior civil service positions for the United Kingdom.”

Turner is expected to take up the role in Kyiv in September 2024. “As the Senior Representative, Mr Turner will head the NRU (NATO Representation in Ukraine) and act as a focal point for NATO’s engagement with the Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv,” Stoltenberg said.

The plan to station a civilian official in Ukraine was one of several pledges NATO made during the summit related to the proxy war. The alliance also vowed to provide at least $43 billion in military aid for 2025 and is in the process of forming a new command center in Wiesbaden, Germany, to oversee the training and arming of Ukrainian forces.

The purpose of the command center is to have NATO take over some duties currently filled by the US in what some officials have described as a way to “Trump-proof” support for Ukraine. The idea is if a future administration wants to wind down aid to Ukraine, NATO would be able to continue the proxy war. But the effort will still be hugely reliant on US funding.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.