NATO’s Ukraine Command Center Lags Behind Schedule

The establishment of a new NATO command center dedicated to coordinating training and security assistance for Ukraine is facing delays, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine command, intended to open in Wiesbaden, Germany this fall with a planned 700 personnel, is still understaffed with only a few hundred currently on site. Many key positions remain unfilled due to slow deployment of promised personnel from member states, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal matters.

The command was a central pledge made by NATO members at their summit in July. Its creation was intended to provide military aid to Ukraine amidst the background of potential shifts in US policy under the incoming Trump administration. Currently, military assistance is largely coordinated through the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group, based at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

NATO’s new Secretary General, Mark Rutte, visited the Wiesbaden hub in mid-October, just two weeks after assuming his position.