NATO members will try on Tuesday to speed up their shipments of arms and ammunition to Ukraine and will discuss the supply of combat aircraft that will allow it to resist the new offensive prepared by Russia.
Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg raised the thorny issue of ammunition on Monday. Ukrainian forces consume a quantity of munitions far exceeding the production of NATO allies who must urgently increase their capabilities, he warned.
“The current rate of ammunition use by Ukraine is much higher than our current rate of production,” he told a news conference on the eve of a meeting of NATO security and defense ministers.
The Allies pledged to provide Ukraine with artillery, armored vehicles and tanks, air defense systems and “other commitments will be made” Tuesday morning at the meeting of the US-led support group in Ukraine, the Secretary General of Ukraine said. the ocean liner organization.
“We are immersed in a logistical race for key capabilities, (…) Vladimir Putin is not preparing for peace. He is launching new offensives. That is why we must continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to win,” he insisted. , noting that the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksiï Reznikov, would be present in Brussels.
Through the voice of its president Volodymyr Zelensky, who visited London, Paris and Brussels last week, Ukraine calls for fighter jets and long-range missiles.
“Defense Industries Under Pressure”
But the fear of being drawn into the conflict blocks many allies. “No decision is expected on Tuesday for combat aircraft,” several delegations assured.
“We must give priority to useful deliveries that allow the Ukrainians to resist and carry out operations instead of commitments that will come very late,” French President Emmanuel Macron insisted after his meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart. Ammunition for the weapons supplied to the Ukrainians became the priority and the problem of the allies.
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, allowing them to invest in greater production capacity.
At the summits of EU heads of state and government on Thursday in Brussels, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas suggested that the bloc’s member countries use a mechanism similar to that used for the purchase of vaccines in order to boost the defense industry to produce more. “Member states provide funds, the Commission does the purchasing and the aid goes directly to Ukraine,” he pleaded. “That could help speed up the process.”
Source: BFM TV
