NATO’s top official on Tuesday urged allies to surge more arms to Kyiv after saying a day prior that Russia had already launched its much-anticipated offensive in Ukraine.
Before a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Belgium, the alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Western countries need to boost ammunition supplies to Kyiv in what he suggested was a race against time.
“We see no signs that President Putin is preparing for peace. What we see is the opposite, he is preparing for more war, for new offensives and new attacks,” he told reporters in Brussels, where defence ministers of NATO allied countries are meeting on Feb. 14–15.
Besides calling for more ammunition for Ukraine, the NATO chief said that delegates would discuss how to dial up defense industry production to surge more ammo to Kyiv and to replenish allies’ own stocks.
Ahead of the NATO meeting, Ukraine renewed its appeal to Western countries for fighter jets in a bid to thwart Russia’s renewed offensive. When Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov was asked by reporters what military aid his country was now seeking, he showed them an image of a fighter jet.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed hard for combat planes last week when he visited several European capitals on what was his second foreign trip since Russia’s invasion was launched on Feb. 24, 2022.
‘Allies Are Stepping Up’
Stoltenberg, however, downplayed the jets when asked by reporters whether they would be forthcoming.“The issue of aircraft is not the most urgent issue now. But it is an ongoing discussion,” he said, adding that the most urgent matter is to deliver armor and ammunition.
“The urgent need now is to deliver what has always been promised, to deliver the armored vehicles, the infantry fighting vehicles, the German Marders, the U.S. Bradleys, and of course, also, the main battle tanks, the Leopards, and the other battle tanks that have been pledged,” Stoltenberg said.
“And we see that Allies are stepping up. We need the training, we need the equipment, we need the ammunition and that’s exactly what Allies are now providing and [it] will be a top issue at the meetings today here at NATO,” he added.
New long-term guidelines for planning and funding military initiatives are also on the agenda in a bid to strengthen deterrence and defense on the part of NATO allies, he added.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reaffirmed that the United States and NATO were backing Ukraine in the conflict over the long haul.
“That shared resolve will sustain Ukraine’s momentum in the weeks ahead,” Austin told reporters in Brussels. “The Kremlin is still betting that it can wait us out.”
Kremlin Accuses NATO Of Deeper Involvement
On Monday, the Kremlin accused NATO of harboring animosity towards Russia and becoming more involved in the conflict.
“NATO is an organisation which is hostile to us and which proves this hostility every day,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.“It is trying its best to make its involvement in the conflict around Ukraine as clear as possible,” he added.
Moscow has said weapons supplies to Ukraine from NATO countries are prolonging the conflict and raising the possibility of a further escalation.
Kyiv and its supporters in the West argue that providing advanced military equipment is crucial to helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s offensive.
Russian Offensive Begins, NATO Chief Says
Also on Monday, Stoltenberg spoke at a pre-ministerial press conference in Brussels, during which he said that the Russian offensive had already started.“I think the reality is that we have seen the start already,” Stoltenberg said. “Because we see in what Russia does now [...] is to send in thousands and thousands of more troops, accepting a very high rate of casualty, taking big losses, but putting pressure on the Ukrainians.”
Stoltenberg added that the new Russian offensive “highlights the importance of timing” and that it’s “urgent to provide Ukraine with more weapons, the faster we can deliver weapons, ammunition, spare parts fuel to the Ukrainian front, the more lives we save, and the better we support efforts to find a peaceful, negotiated solution to this conflict.”
Russian forces bombarded Ukrainian troops and towns along the frontlines in the eastern region of Donetsk on Tuesday in what seemed to be early salvoes of the new offensive.
Ukraine’s military said Tuesday that, over the past 24 hours, its forces had repelled attacks in five settlements in Luhansk and six in Donetsk, including in Bakhmut, a key target of Russian forces.
“There is not a single square meter in Bakhmut that is safe or that is not in range of enemy fire or drones,” regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukraine’s national broadcaster.
The capture of Bakhmut would provide a stepping stone for Russia to advance on two bigger cities in Donetsk—Kramatorsk and Sloviansk—giving Russia new momentum in its invasion.
