NATO endorses plan to lead coordination of support for Ukraine

BRUSSELS, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Defense ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) have adopted a plan that allows the alliance to lead the coordination of security assistance and military training for Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday.

Stoltenberg told journalists after a two-day ministerial meeting at NATO's Brussels headquarters that NATO will oversee training of Ukrainian armed forces at training facilities in allied countries and support Ukraine through the planning and coordination of donations.

The plan, which is expected to involve 700 staff, will consist of a NATO command located at a U.S. facility in Wiesbaden, Germany, and at logistical nodes in the Eastern part of the alliance.

The move means NATO will take over the lead from the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

"We have to consider the fact that this war could go on for years. We want to have something in place that does not depend on specific persons, ministers, but a structure that works," Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren has said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had earlier threatened to veto the plan but eventually agreed to let other NATO members move ahead if Budapest isn't obliged to take part.