NATO boss warns: “Ukrainian army consumes more munitions than NATO countries produce” | War Ukraine and Russia

The government in Kiev and its Western allies have been sounding the alarm for some time about an imminent new attack by Russia. For example, it could start around February 24, the day that the Russian invasion is one year old. But around Bachmut and in Luhansk province, among others, the attack seems to have already started.

“We are already witnessing the new Russian offensive,” said NATO Secretary General. Vladimir Putin is sending “hundreds and hundreds of additional troops” and accepting “a very high casualty rate”. What Russia lacks in quality it tries to make up for in quantity, he notes.

“For me, this emphasizes the importance of timing. It is urgent to supply Ukraine with more weapons,” said the secretary-general. “Important capabilities such as ammunition, fuel and spare parts must reach Ukraine before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield. Speed ​​will save lives.”

“NATO will support Ukraine as long as it takes, but the Ukrainian army consumes more munitions than NATO produces. Ukraine’s ammunition consumption is currently many times higher than our production rate,” said the secretary-general on the eve of new consultations between the defense ministers of NATO countries and other allies of Ukraine.

“This puts pressure on our defense industry,” he says. As an example, he gives the waiting time for large caliber ammunition, which has increased from 12 to 28 months. “We need to produce more to supply enough to Ukraine, but also to replenish our own supplies to be able to protect our territory,” he said.

It’s not a new problem. “Last year we started addressing this issue,” he says. For example, the alliance carried out an analysis of the supplies. NATO will also raise ammunition stockpile targets through the defense planning process.

Stoltenberg emphasizes that the challenge of having enough ammunition also applies to Russia. “This is a war of attrition, a battle of logistics,” he declares.

The Secretary-General also welcomes the fact that several member states, such as the US and France, have already signed new contracts with the defense industry. “That makes it possible for them to invest in increased production capacity.”

Last Sunday’s cyber attack on NATO websites did not affect the alliance’s secure networks, the NATO chief said.

According to the Secretary General of the treaty organization, the majority of NATO websites are operating as normal. “We have seen attempted denial of service incidents on NATO websites since Sunday,” said Stoltenberg. “NATO’s secure networks were not affected.”

See also: “We are expanding NATO intervention force to more than 300,000”