NATO Ministerial Begins Tomorrow Amid Concerns Over Cont. Ukraine Aid

State Department Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien has given preview of the NATO foreign ministerial sessions which will kick off tomorrow in Brussels, Belgium.

• O’Brien says the summit, which will also includes the first in-person ministerial meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, will have a session on next year’s NATO Summit in Washington DC and a session on the Western Balkans.
• According to O’Brien, ministers will have a “free-flowing conversation” about the path forward leading to the NATO Summit in July.
• At the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting, to be attended by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, ministers will, “have the opportunity to reaffirm the Alliance’s steadfast commitment to Ukraine, talk about what’s likely to come up over the next several months.”
• O’Brien notes that, “Secretary of State Antony Blinken will provide a press avail at the end of the ministerial, and that will be the occasion when we roll out any deliverables from this session and report the conclusions of the ministerial.”
• O’Brien says he is “optimistic” that the US Congress will pass President Biden’s USD$106b supplemental funding package but notes, “any political process is not done until it’s done.”
• Please see today's edition of the MNI US Daily Brief for a full update of the state of Ukraine aid in Congress.