NATO Command in Germany to Assist Ukraine Is up and Running, Says Rutte

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte holds a press conference, ahead of a meeting of NATO Defense Ministers in Brussels, Belgium October 16, 2024. (Reuters)
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte holds a press conference, ahead of a meeting of NATO Defense Ministers in Brussels, Belgium October 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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NATO Command in Germany to Assist Ukraine Is up and Running, Says Rutte

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte holds a press conference, ahead of a meeting of NATO Defense Ministers in Brussels, Belgium October 16, 2024. (Reuters)
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte holds a press conference, ahead of a meeting of NATO Defense Ministers in Brussels, Belgium October 16, 2024. (Reuters)

A new NATO command in the German city of Wiesbaden has taken up its work to coordinate Western military aid for Ukraine, the alliance's Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday.

The command takes over coordination of the aid from the United States, in a move widely seen as aiming to safeguard the support mechanism against NATO sceptic US President-elect Donald Trump.

"The NATO command in Wiesbaden for security assistance and training for Ukraine is now up and running", Rutte told reporters at NATO's headquarters in Brussels.

Trump, who will take office in January, has said he wants to end the war in Ukraine swiftly without elaborating how he aims to do so. He has long criticized the scale of US financial and military aid to Ukraine.

The headquarters of NATO's new Ukraine mission, dubbed NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), is located at Clay Barracks, a US base in the German town of Wiesbaden.

The US-led Ramstein group of around 50 nations, an ad hoc coalition named after a US air base in Germany where it first met, has coordinated Western military supplies to Kyiv since 2022.

It will continue to exist as a political forum as NSATU assumes the military implementation of decisions taken there.

Diplomats, however, acknowledge that the handover to NATO may have a limited effect given that the United States under Trump could still deal a major setback to Ukraine by slashing its support, as it is the alliance's dominant power and provides the majority of arms to Kyiv.

NSATU is set to have around 700 personnel, including troops stationed at NATO's military headquarters SHAPE in Belgium and at logistics hubs in Poland and Romania.

Russia has condemned increases in Western military aid to Ukraine as risking a wider war.



Small Plane Crashes into Brazil Tourist City, Killing at Least 10

A general view shows the site of a plane crash in the center of Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Edson Vara
A general view shows the site of a plane crash in the center of Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Edson Vara
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Small Plane Crashes into Brazil Tourist City, Killing at Least 10

A general view shows the site of a plane crash in the center of Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Edson Vara
A general view shows the site of a plane crash in the center of Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Edson Vara

A small plane carrying 10 people crashed into shops in the center of the tourist city of Gramado in southern Brazil on Sunday, killing everyone on board, state government officials said.
The aircraft's owner and pilot, Luiz Claudio Galeazzi, died along with the other nine passengers, all of whom were members of his family, according to Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite.
In addition, 17 people on the ground were injured, Leite said at a press conference, with 12 still receiving hospital care, including two in critical condition, Reuters reported.
Manufactured in 1990, the twin-engine Piper PA-42-1000 took off shortly after 9 am local time from nearby Canela airport and was heading to Jundiai in Sao Paulo state under unfavorable weather conditions, the governor said.
He noted that the cause of the crash is being investigated by the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa).
The plane reportedly first struck the chimney of a building then the second floor of a house before crashing into a furniture store, authorities said. Debris also reached a nearby inn.
Nestled in a mountainous region, Gramado is the most popular tourist destination in Rio Grande do Sul, which was severely impacted earlier this year by unprecedented floods that claimed dozens of lives, destroyed infrastructure and significantly disrupted the state's economy.