The head of NATO said Tuesday that the West is in danger of running out of ammunition, adding that Vladimir Putin is "preparing for more war" in Ukraine.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg reminded the 30 members of the military alliance that they must expedite shipments so that Ukraine can respond to Russian aggression.
NATO Says Putin Prepares For More Strikes
Ahead of a two-day conference of NATO military ministers in Brussels, the former Norwegian prime minister stated, "This has become a grinding war of attrition, and hence a struggle of logistics. This is a monumental effort by allies to be able to deliver the required ammo, fuel, and spare components."
According to Ukrainian officials, Moscow is planning a far bigger onslaught on the eastern Donbas areas, as well as new strikes on Kharkiv in the northeast and Zaporizhia in the southeast. It follows the death of a British national in Ukraine, as per Daily Mail.
The family has been notified, but the name of the man, the eighth British national to die in the conflict, is still unknown, according to the Foreign Office. Ukraine's military forces fire around 6,000 artillery rounds daily, considerably more than their Western allies can replenish.
Russia uses up to 20,000 rounds a day, equal to what European factories can produce in one month. However, no decision has been made on providing Western fighter planes to the Ukrainian military.
Allies' reactions to Kyiv's request for immediate air help have been divided. Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukraine's defense minister, displayed a picture of a fighter aircraft yesterday when asked what he expected from a conference to supply the nation with more weaponry.
The United States and the United Kingdom have ruled out providing planes to Ukraine at this time, but Britain has established a training program for Ukrainian fighter pilots.
US defense secretary Lloyd Austin told a separate conference of Ukraine's partners that it "had urgent requirements to enable it to face this critical juncture in the course of the conflict" and that the coalition was working to guarantee they have the necessary armor, firepower, and logistics.
Russia-Ukraine War Update
The Guardian reported that Ukraine fires between 6,000 and 7,000 artillery shells each day, around a third of the quantity used by Russia. NATO nations have supplied Ukraine with ammunition from their stores, but supplies are depleting, placing pressure on the western defense industry.
According to NATO, the waiting period for large-caliber ammunition has increased from 12 to 28 months; thus, orders placed today will not be fulfilled until the summer of 2025. Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's defense minister, participated in the NATO ministerial and the Ukraine defense contact group meeting. This US initiative brings together more than 50 countries supporting Kyiv in its defense against Russian aggression.
His stated objectives were protecting Ukraine's skies, "strengthening the tank coalition," securing sufficient ammunition, ensuring more training for the Ukrainian army, and ensuring stable logistics, maintenance, and repair of weapons.
NATO nations gather under tensions between Turkey and Sweden, which asked to join the alliance with Finland after Russia's incursion last year. Turkey is one of only two of NATO's 28 members that have not yet ratified Sweden and Finland's membership applications due to a dispute with Stockholm over Kurdish insurgents that is unlikely to be addressed before the May elections in Turkey.
Turkey has refused to accept the two membership applications because it wants Sweden to repatriate scores of Kurdish fighters it accuses of participating in a 2016 coup. Meanwhile, Russia has issued a warning to NATO after its Secretary-General confirmed, before a Ukraine contact group meeting at the military bloc's headquarters, that NATO has been arming and training Ukraine's troops since 2014.
Russia asserted that NATO's involvement in the Ukraine crisis was growing and that the alliance's hostility against Moscow persisted, as per Hindustan Times. Jens Stoltenberg urged the US-led NATO members to increase their supply of armaments for Ukraine, noting that Kyiv was using more ammunition daily in the conflict. Ukraine also reiterated its request for Western fighter planes.
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