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Rutte expects NATO command for weapon supplies to Ukraine to start work by end of year

The official expressed hope that NATO countries will be able to put Ukraine in a position of strength when the time comes for talks

BRUSSELS, December 4. /TASS/. The new NATO command that will coordinate arms deliveries to Ukraine will start work by the end of the year, the alliance’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte said.

He made the statement following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, providing an update about the command that was not up and running this past fall as was initially scheduled.

"I expect the new command in Wiesbaden, the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, to be fully operational by the end of this year," he told reporters.

The official expressed hope that NATO countries will be able to put Ukraine in a position of strength when the time comes for talks. Rutte reiterated that so far the frontline has been moving westward.

The NATO command in Wiesbaden is set to replace the Ramstein format, where the coordinating role in arms supplies to Ukraine belonged to the US.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius earlier said NATO's Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine mission in Wiesbaden would take over the coordinating role from January.

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