NATO members will try on Tuesday to speed up their deliveries of arms and ammunition to Ukraine and will discuss the supply of combat aircraft to enable it to resist the new offensive prepared by Russia.
The Allies pledged to provide Ukraine with artillery, armored vehicles and tanks, air defense systems and “other commitments will be made” on Tuesday morning at the NATO Support Group meeting. Ukraine led by the United States, assured Monday Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the transatlantic organization.
“We are engaged in a logistics race for key capabilities, […] Vladimir Putin is not preparing for peace. He launches new offensives. We must therefore continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to win,” he insisted, noting that Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov would be present in Brussels.
“Ammunition, fuel and spare parts must reach Ukraine before Russia can take the initiative on the battlefield,” he continued. Through the voice of its President Volodymyr Zelensky, who visited London, Paris and Brussels last week, Ukraine is calling for fighter jets and long-range missiles.
But the fear of being involved in the conflict blocks many allies. “No decision is expected Tuesday for combat aircraft,” assured several delegations.
“Support for Ukraine has evolved since the conflict began. The supply of combat aircraft will be discussed, ”assured Jens Stoltenberg, however. “It will take time and the short-term priorities are ammunition and armaments promised with fuel and spare parts,” he immediately added.
“We must favor useful deliveries to allow the Ukrainians to resist and to carry out operations rather than commitments which will arrive very late”, insisted French President Emmanuel Macron after his meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Ammunition for the armaments supplied to the Ukrainians became the priority and the problem of the allies.
“The current rate of ammunition use by Ukraine is much higher than our current rate of production,” warned Jens Stoltenberg. “This is depleting our stocks and putting our defense industries under pressure,” he added, calling for increased production rates on the one hand and investment in production capacities on the other.
Jens Stoltenberg hailed as an example to follow the new multi-year contracts signed by the United States, France and Norway with the defense industries, which allows them to invest in increased production capacity.
At the summit of EU heads of state and government on Thursday in Brussels, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas suggested that member countries of the bloc use a mechanism similar to that used for the purchase of vaccines in order to to push the defense industry to produce more.
“Member states provide funds, the Commission takes care of the purchases and the aid goes directly to Ukraine,” she pleaded. “That might help speed up the process. »
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