NATO Defence Ministers seek common munitions standards, more joint procurement and further support for Ukraine

A review of the meeting of NATO Ministers of Defence 

Brussels, 17-18 October 2024

This fourth meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in 2024 (the previous three took place in February, April and June), and the first since the Washington Summit in July, focused on four core issues:

• supporting Ukraine;
• strengthening deterrence and defence; 
• the status of NATO’s current operations and missions in Iraq and Kosovo; and
• deepening NATO’s global partnerships. 

It was new Secretary General Mark Rutte's first ministerial meeting as the head of NATO and the first time that defence ministers of NATO’s four Indo-Pacific partners—Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea—joined a North Atlantic Council (NAC) session with their 32 NATO counterparts (although their leaders and foreign ministers had previously done so in other formats). The EU’s special representative also attended the same session. 

The key decisions and outcomes were as follows:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought support for his ‘victory plan’ for ending the war with Russia, but a key part of it, an invitation to join NATO remains elusive. 
• At a separate meeting with EU leaders, Zelensky had seemed to warn that his country may pursue nuclear weapons if it is not granted membership in NATO, but he denied this was the case.
• A new NATO command to coordinate security assistance and training for Ukraine, which is being set up in Wiesbaden, Germany, is expected to become fully operational in the “coming months”.
• NATO allies committed 20.9 billion euros in military assistance to Ukraine during the first half of 2024 (as part of the financial pledge during the Washington Summit to deliver 40 billion euros in 2024).
• Discussions between NATO Defence Ministers and counterparts from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the EU focussed on support for Ukraine; joint efforts to boost cyber defences, military production and innovation; counter disinformation; and harnessing new technologies, including artificial intelligence. However, no new initiatives were announced.
• Defence Ministers agreed a new NATO initiative on standardisation, and five new multinational cooperation initiatives to enhance deterrence and defence:
  • 13 member states agreed a new initiative to accelerate the delivery of new generation Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) - such as NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS)
  • 15 member states agreed a new project to increase the interchangeability and interoperability of key allied artillery munitions. 
  • 18 member states joined the Distributed Synthetic Training Environment project, which establishes a network of advanced and immersive multinational training opportunities for militaries. 
  • 13 member states launched the Northlink initiative to explore the development of a secure, resilient and reliable multinational Arctic satellite communications capability.
  • 14 member states agreed to launch the Starlift initiative to investigate ways to strengthen NATO’s access to and use of space
• Further steps were also taken to advance work on two existing projects: the Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability and NATO’s cross-border airspace cooperation. 

For further details see the attached pdf.