ROME, July 9. /TASS/. NATO is expanding its involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, even though it doesn’t participate in the fighting directly, said Gianandrea Gaiani, military analyst and editor-in-chief of the Analisi Difesa news website.

"NATO has always said that supplying weapons and sending military personnel is a decision of each individual country. But the decision to provide logistical support to Ukraine, which involves almost 700 troops from almost all member states, briefing and so on, is nothing but a NATO mission. The alliance is increasing its involvement in the conflict," he told TASS.

He said he believes the alliance’s policy will not change when NATO’s new secretary-general takes helm.

"I do not expect Mark Rutte to make any significant changes compared to Jens Stoltenberg," the analyst said.

He said it is no coincidence that a representative of Northern Europe became a NATO secretary-general for a third straight time, as the region traditionally holds views that are close to those of the United States and the Anglo-Saxon axis, which see the strengthening of the bloc’s eastern flank as a priority.

"This is happening at a time when the countries of Southern Europe, starting with Italy, are quite concerned about the situation on the southern borders and have long called for more attention to this aspect. The Mediterranean, North Africa, the Sahel - these regions are of concern to the Italians, the French, the Spaniards because they are a security priority," Gaiani said.

Nevertheless, the alliance will be led by a representative of the Netherlands, a country that in a show of its complete loyalty to the US joined the US-UK maritime operation to ensure the safety of navigation in the Red Sea, rather than the European mission, the analyst said. The Netherlands was also the first to announce it will provide F-16 jets to Kiev.

"NATO has two main stakeholders: the British and the Americans," the analyst stated.

The countries supply US-made weapons to Ukraine, though they are outdated, he said.

"This helps large shipments of American, not European, military exports to Ukraine. This becomes a matter of business, earning for companies," the analyst went on to say.

NATO is kicking off a three-day summit in Washington on Tuesday, with the main issues being support for Kiev, countering Russia and containment of China.