NATO Secretary General said about the instability of the supply of shells to Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on air skynewsthat the supply of ammunition to Ukraine by Western countries is unstable, because the Armed Forces of Ukraine spend them in much larger volumes than the allies produce.

According to Mr. Stoltenberg, the conflict in Ukraine is turning into a “logistics battle.” “We, as allies of Ukraine, must increase production, because so far we have provided support by depleting our reserves. The consumption of ammunition in Ukraine far exceeds our production, so there is an instability in the supply,” said the Secretary General.

He said that in order to ensure stability in supplies, the allies need to establish cooperation with defense industry companies. In particular, Western countries should enter into long-term contracts with such companies, Mr. Stoltenberg believes.

The secretary general also said that at a recent meeting in Brussels, he discussed with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba ways NATO can work with the Ukrainian defense industry to boost production of “basic things” like artillery shells.

On February 13, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the conflict in Ukraine requires a huge amount of ammunition, in connection with which the alliance plans to increase its targets for their stocks. On February 15, it became known that the Pentagon ordered the production of 155-mm shells for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the amount of $522 million. AFP reported that the contracts were concluded amid fears that Ukraine was rapidly depleting artillery shells.

On February 19, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that an emergency meeting of the ministers of defense and foreign affairs of the EU countries would be held on March 6–7, at which it was planned to discuss accelerating the supply of ammunition to Ukraine. He emphasized that the problem with ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine cannot be solved by joint purchases, since any orders will now be “at the end of the long list” due to the needs of the EU countries.

Follow the situation in Ukraine in the online broadcast “Kommersant”.

Erdni Kagaltynov