NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has urged the alliance member countries to ramp up ammunition production for Ukraine while warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing fresh attacks against the embattled country.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Monday, Stoltenberg said that Ukraine’s consumption of ammunition is much greater than the production capacity of the collective West.
He added that it represents not only a challenge to Kyiv, but also to NATO, given that it also means its own stockpiles are being depleted.
“The urgent issue right now is to deliver what has always been promised”, namely armoured vehicles, including German Marders and US Bradleys, Leopard battle tanks and others.
“We need the training, we need the equipment, we need the ammunition and that’s exactly what allies are now providing and will be a top issue at the meetings today here at NATO,” he added.
According to the Associated Press news agency, Ukraine is consuming 6,000-7,000 artillery shells a day, about a third of the number Russia is using.
The member countries have assembled in Brussels for the ninth meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which focuses on providing support to Ukraine in its war against Russia.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is also participating in the meeting, said he expects to see Ukraine conduct an offensive in the spring.
“What Ukraine wants to do at the first possible moment is to establish or create momentum and establish conditions on the battlefield that continue to be in its favour,” he said in a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday.
“And so, we expect to see them conduct an offensive sometime in the spring and because of that we are, we all of the partners in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, have been working hard to ensure that they have the armoured capability, the fires, the sustainment to be able to be effective in creating the effects on the battlefield that they want to create,” he said.
