Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) for Ukraine

• Non-lethal military assistance based on Ukraine’s immediate needs
• Mid- to long-term support to Ukraine
• Ukraine CAP Trust Fund
• Governance structure
• Evolution
• Other forms of support for Ukraine

 

Non-lethal military assistance based on Ukraine’s immediate needs

Since February 2022, NATO has developed a wide range of projects providing short-term, non-lethal military assistance to meet Ukraine’s immediate needs in its defence against Russia’s war of aggression.

These short-term support projects have covered multiple areas, for example:

• medical supplies (including first aid kits, pharmaceuticals and ambulances);
• combat rations, mobile field kitchens and food catering equipment;
• clothing (including winter gear and army boots);
• shelters and generators;
• mobile showers and laundry units;
• vehicles (including fuel trucks and transfer tanks, fire trucks, water trucks, tires and batteries, lubricants and rigid inflatable boats);
• fuel materiel (including jet fuel);
• military education and training equipment;
• chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) detectors and protection;
• explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and demining equipment;
• counter-drone equipment; and
• communication systems (including enhanced satellite communication).

The Alliance continues to develop new short-term support projects in a variety of areas, in close coordination with Ukrainian authorities based on Ukraine’s most urgent needs.

 

Mid- to long-term support to Ukraine

Russia first launched its war of aggression in eastern Ukraine and illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. Since then, Ukraine has been forced to defend against military action in the Donbas and hybrid attacks across the country.

In this context, NATO launched the CAP in 2016 as a key mechanism to help Ukraine transform its security and defence sector. This has included strategic-level advice via the NATO Representation to Ukraine as well as NATO Headquarters in Belgium, and practical support through a range of capacity-building programmes and initiatives.

In the years before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, these reforms helped strengthen Ukraine’s ability to defend itself. Through CAP initiatives, NATO Allies helped Ukraine strengthen its defence capabilities in many areas, including cyber defence, logistics, explosive ordnance disposal, military training and education, and countering hybrid threats like critical infrastructure sabotage and disinformation campaigns. All of this increased Ukraine’s capacity to fight back against Russia’s aggression when it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

At the 2023 Vilnius Summit, Allies agreed to further develop the CAP into a multi-year programme of assistance for Ukraine, based on sustained and predictable funding. Longer-term support is organised through three principal lines of effort: recovery and reconstruction, institutional transformation, and transition towards NATO interoperability.

Specific activities under these lines of effort include:

• Interoperability – Ensuring that Ukraine continues to transition towards full interoperability with NATO, including its progress from Soviet-era to NATO standards, training and doctrines as it develops its capabilities and moves closer to NATO membership;
• Lessons Learned – Establishing the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre (JATEC) in Bydgoszcz, Poland, to identify and apply lessons learned from Russia’s war against Ukraine and contribute to increasing interoperability;
• Recovery and Reconstruction – Re-establishing military infrastructure damaged or destroyed by Russia;
• Demining – Strengthening Ukraine’s demining capabilities and supporting the demining of Ukrainian territory;
• Defence Procurement – Reforming Ukraine’s defence procurement system to bring it in line with NATO best practices and promote greater effectiveness, accountability and transparency;
• Rehabilitation – Rehabilitating injured personnel from the defence and security forces and reintegrating them back into service or civilian life; and
• Innovation – Launching new joint activities to support Ukraine’s innovation ecosystem and self-defence through the first NATO-Ukraine Innovation Cooperation Roadmap.

More information on a number of these activities can be found below.

NATO-Ukraine Interoperability Roadmap

In September 2023, Ukraine and NATO jointly agreed a concept for interoperability, whereby Ukrainian defence planners would incorporate interoperability requirements into their Long-Term Capability Development Plans for their defence and security sector.

In November 2023, as part of the Interoperability Roadmap, NATO defence planners advised Ukrainian officials on the requirements for NATO interoperability, and assisted Ukraine in the development of a set of initial Interoperability Requirements, which were presented at the 2024 Washington Summit. Throughout this effort, NATO has ensured that the interoperability work is coherent with other non-NATO support efforts, such as those undertaken by the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the European Union and the G7 group, and is synchronised with Ukraine’s wider reform priorities and the support provided by the Alliance through NATO Security Assistance and Training Ukraine (NSATU).

NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre (JATEC)

In February 2024, the Defence Ministers of NATO and Ukraine agreed to establish the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre (JATEC) in Bydgoszcz, Poland. JATEC is the first joint NATO-Ukraine organisation and an important pillar of NATO-Ukraine relations. It is working to identify and apply lessons learned from Russia’s war against Ukraine, contribute to NATO’s deterrence and defence, and increase interoperability between Allied and Ukrainian forces.  

Defence procurement

Together with Ukraine, NATO has successfully conducted a joint Strategic Defence Procurement Review to bring Ukraine’s defence procurement in line with Euro-Atlantic best practices. The objective is to help Ukraine improve its defence procurement system and promote greater effectiveness, accountability and transparency. The high-level strategic policy recommendations were endorsed at the 2024 Washington Summit. Recommendations will be translated into a work programme for further NATO support on ongoing reforms in the defence procurement area.

Human Centric Framework (HCF)

The Human Centric Framework (HCF) is one of the key components of the CAP, reflecting NATO's holistic approach to security by focusing on human capital as a core element of security and defence capabilities. The HCF is built on the principle of continuum of care and covers areas such as medical evacuation, psychological and medical rehabilitation, human resource management within the defence forces, veterans’ reintegration, and Women, Peace and Security (WPS) as a cross-cutting issue within the defence and security sector.

The current focus of the HCF is Operation Renovator – a project to establish a network of five medical rehabilitation centres across Ukraine, one of which will act as a Medical Rehabilitation Centre of Excellence.
Other HCF projects have included:

• psychological rehabilitation and resilience training for military personnel, including psychological first aid seminars for the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces and targeted training aimed at psychological recovery of combatants from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs;
• training for psychologists in the areas of specialised mental health support and therapy, including trauma-focused eye movement and desensitisation reprocessing (EMDR) therapy;
• supporting the Ministry of Veterans and the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation through subject matter experts; and
• providing support to the Ukrainian National Team’s participation in the Invictus Games, an international adaptive sports event.

Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP)

The Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) is a multi-year programme focused on developing and reforming professional military education institutions. Ukraine has participated in DEEP since 2013. The primary objective of Ukraine’s participation has been to support interoperability through the replacement of the former Soviet education and training system by a system in accordance with NATO standards.

Building Integrity (BI) Programme

The NATO Building Integrity (BI) Programme is a multi-year programme that supports countries in strengthening good governance, transparency and accountability in their defence and security institutions. Ukraine has participated in the BI Programme since 2007. NATO BI activities assist the Ukrainian defence and related security sector by reinforcing the culture of integrity and providing tailored support to enhance sustainable long-term good governance and corruption prevention reforms.

 

Ukraine CAP Trust Fund

The Ukraine CAP Trust Fund, to which Allies and partners provide both financial and in-kind contributions, is a significant source of funding for the CAP. As of November 2024, Allies and partners have contributed nearly EUR 800 million (approximately USD 860 million) to the Ukraine CAP Trust Fund.

Following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, several Trust Funds were launched to assist Ukraine, providing resources to support capability development and sustainable capacity-building in key areas. In 2021, NATO consolidated and transitioned all pre-existing Trust Funds supporting Ukraine into a single Ukraine CAP Trust Fund.

The Ukraine CAP Trust Fund enables resourcing for Ukraine-related activities within a single dedicated instrument – a flexible and scalable fund to provide Ukraine with urgently needed non-lethal military assistance (sustainment) as well as long-term capacity-building support. It supports more than 70 short-term and long-term projects.

 

Governance structure

Policy and implementation oversight of the CAP is conducted through the NATO-Ukraine Council (NUC) – the joint body where Allies and Ukraine sit as equal participants to advance political dialogue, engagement, cooperation and Ukraine’s aspirations for membership in NATO. Under the NUC’s Defence and Security Sector Committee, NATO and Ukraine work together to identify and prioritise the key areas for NATO support to Ukraine’s defence and security sector under the CAP.

The NATO-Ukraine CAP Joint Management Board supports the implementation of the CAP. The Board works under the joint guidance of NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Operations and Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. It consists of representatives from NATO and several Ukrainian government agencies and institutions. They work together to identify the Ukrainian assistance requirements, as well as to consider priorities and agree on the potential provision and facilitation of NATO support to Ukraine.

 

Evolution

NATO’s cooperation with Ukraine began in the early 1990s. Over the decades, it has covered a wide range of activities – from building Ukraine's capabilities and interoperability with NATO forces, to promoting reforms in Ukraine's defence and related security sector, to supporting non-military activities like collaborative scientific research and public diplomacy. Ukraine has been a close NATO partner for more than 30 years. In 2008, NATO Allies agreed that Ukraine will become a member of NATO.

Following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO-Ukraine cooperation was intensified in critical areas. At the 2016 Warsaw Summit, Allied Leaders agreed to consolidate NATO’s support to Ukraine into a single Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP), designed to support Ukraine's ability to provide for its own security and to implement wide-ranging reforms based on NATO standards, principles and best practices.

Under the CAP, NATO has helped Ukraine transform its security and defence sector for many years. Through capacity-building programmes and tailored support, NATO has significantly strengthened the capacity and resilience of Ukraine's security and defence sector, as well as its ability to counter hybrid threats. NATO and Allies have also provided extensive support to capability development, including through training and education and the provision of equipment.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Allies agreed at the 2022 Madrid Summit to step up political and practical support to Ukraine, including a strengthened CAP.

At the 2023 Vilnius Summit, Allies agreed to further develop the CAP into a multi-year programme of assistance for Ukraine, based on sustained and predictable funding.

At the 2024 Washington Summit, NATO further consolidated Allied support to Ukraine through CAP deliverables in the areas of procurement, interoperability and lessons learned from Russia’s war.

NATO continues to develop projects under the CAP to meet Ukraine’s immediate needs and to support long-term reforms.

Timeline

 

Other forms of support for Ukraine

In addition to the CAP, NATO and Allies have supported Ukraine through many other means.

For example, following Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) – NATO’s principal civil emergency response mechanism – coordinated assistance to Ukraine’s civilian population, as well as to neighbouring countries hosting millions of Ukrainian refugees. The EADRCC arranged training in emergency medicine for some 200 Ukrainian paramedics, with funding donated by NATO Allies. Ambulance busses and hospital equipment worth more than EUR 5 million were also provided to Ukrainian hospitals through this NATO mechanism. Allies also used the EADRCC to channel in-kind medical support to Ukraine, including ventilators and disinfectant. Finally, the Centre supported Allies’ response to the humanitarian, environmental and economic consequences of Russia’s destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in June 2023. Allies provided Ukraine with critical aid, including water filters, pumps, generators and shelters.

Other key initiatives include NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), a Pledge of Long-Term Security Assistance, and a wide range of bilateral security commitments between individual NATO Allies and Ukraine.

Learn more: Relations with Ukraine