NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said providing Ukraine with the firepower to beat back Russian invaders should be the alliance’s priority, even as NATO pushes its members to increase their military capabilities, such as devoting at least 2% of their GDP to national defense.
During an unannounced visit Monday to Kyiv, Mr. Stoltenberg saluted the Ukrainian soldiers who “continue to inspire the whole world.”
“But leadership and bravery alone cannot repel the Russian forces. You also need arms and ammunition,” he said, standing next to Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy. “If allies face a choice between meeting NATO capability targets or support to Ukraine, they should support Ukraine and put plans in place to refill their stockpiles.”
Military stockpiles in NATO countries can be replenished, but the lives that have been lost due to shortages on the battlefield in Ukraine can’t be replaced, Mr. Stoltenberg said, acknowledging political squabbles in the U.S. over military assistance and the inability of European countries to deliver ammunition at a scale NATO promised.
“Ukraine has been outgunned for months — forced to ration its ammunition. This means that fewer Russian missiles and drones have been shot down and Russia has been able to push forward along the front line,” he said.
Mr. Stoltenberg welcomed a new U.S. arms package that will provide Ukraine with more than $60 billion in military assistance, including critical air defense and artillery ammunition along with ramped-up support from European NATO states.
“The U.K. has just announced its largest delivery yet — including dozens of combat boats, hundreds of vehicles, thousands of missiles, and millions of rounds of ammunition,” he said. “Germany will deliver an additional Patriot system [and] the Netherlands is contributing an additional 4 billion Euros.”
Member states have agreed on a plan for a greater NATO role in coordinating security assistance and training for Ukraine. Mr. Stoltenberg said a multi-year financial commitment is necessary to demonstrate that the alliance’s support is not “short term and ad hoc but long term and predictable.”
“Moscow must understand; they cannot win and they cannot wait us out,” he said.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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