NATO chief seeks 'at least' 40 bln euros a year in Ukraine aid

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Friday urged members to commit to providing Ukraine at least 40 billion euros ($43 billion) a year in military aid, seeking to ensure long-term support as war with Russia grinds on.

With Russia waging a major new offensive, NATO foreign ministers met in Prague to lay the groundwork for a July summit in Washington that will both celebrate 75 years of the transatlantic alliance and seek new ways to bolster Ukraine.

The United States has led assistance to Ukraine but is resuming aid after a months-long delay triggered by fighting in Congress, with November's presidential election throwing further doubt on future U.S. funding.

"Since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, allies have provided approximately 40 billion euros worth of military aid to Ukraine each year. We must maintain at least this level of support each year, for as long as necessary," Stoltenberg told journalists after the two days of talks.

He said he wanted NATO's 32 countries to share the burden "equitably" and be ready to announce the plan at the Washington summit.

"We need a firm commitment for the long haul to ensure that Ukraine is able to plan, to ensure that Ukraine has the predictability they need to conduct this war of self-defence," Stoltenberg said.

He said one way to measure each country's commitment could be to base it on gross domestic product, but the plan was not finalised.

It is the latest effort by Stoltenberg to put NATO support on firmer footing ahead of a potential return of Donald Trump, who has dismissed both the alliance itself and Ukraine aid as wasteful.

Last month Stoltenberg floated an overall target of 100 billion euros ($108 billion) over five years for Ukraine support, but that fell...