NATO members are not giving Ukraine enough ammunition, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg presented NATO’s annual report for 2023 at a press conference in Brussels, and commented on the situation in Ukraine.
He said that Ukrainians are not running out of courage but ammunition.
“NATO allies are not providing enough ammunition to Ukraine and this has consequences on the battlefield every day. The fact is that the Russians are able to outplay the Ukrainians every day. Of course, it’s a big challenge, that’s one of the reasons why the Russians managed to make some progress on the battlefield during the last weeks and months,” Stoltenberg said.
He called on allies to provide more ammunition to Ukraine.
“Both the United States of America, and Canada, and Europe must do more,” Stoltenberg said, emphasizing that NATO members have the economies to be able to provide Ukraine with what they need.
He emphasized that it is a matter of political will to make decisions and the priority of supporting Ukraine.
“And that’s why we need decisions to invest more in the defense industry,” added the general secretary of the military alliance.
Stoltenberg said it would be a major historical mistake to allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to win.
“We cannot allow authoritarian leaders to use force. This would be dangerous for all of us,” he warned.
Finland became safer
Stoltenberg said that Finland joined NATO in 2023 and became safer than before.
He noted that almost all Russian ground forces were deployed against Ukraine.
“So we don’t see any immediate threat to any NATO ally,” Stoltenberg said, pledging to monitor the situation and protect allies.
Elections in Russia
When asked about the internal situation in Russia, on the eve of the presidential elections that will be held from March 15 to 17, Stoltenberg said that there is no democracy in the country and that the opposition has been suppressed.
“President Putin held power in Russia for decades. And no one expects this Sunday’s Russian election to bring about any change in the Kremlin. And of course, Russia’s attempts to organize any part of the elections in the occupied regions of Ukraine are completely illegal and constitute a violation of international law,” the NATO Secretary General added, AA writes.
