According to the NATO head, Ukraine’s allies are in a race against time to build enough ammunition, gasoline, and spare parts to repel a Russian offensive.
Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg has once more encouraged Ukraine’s Western partners to increase their military support. When asked on Monday when he expected Russia’s so-called spring offensive to begin, Stoltenberg responded, “in truth, we have already witnessed the beginning.”
“This demonstrates to me the significance of time. It is imperative to give Ukraine with additional arms, he told reporters in Brussels.
Stoltenberg stated that NATO sees “absolutely no indication that [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin is prepared for peace,” and that equipping Ukraine more rapidly could save lives by bringing an earlier conclusion to the conflict.
“It is evident that we are in a logistical race. Before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield, vital capabilities like ammunition, gasoline, and spare components must reach Ukraine. “Speed saves lives,” he stated.
On Tuesday, NATO members and Ukraine’s other allies will convene at the alliance’s headquarters to solicit more arms and ammunition for the war-torn nation.
They will address NATO’s eastern flank defences near Russia on Wednesday. Increasing military spending is also on the agenda.
On Monday, Russian artillery opened fire on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut as Ukrainian soldiers there prepared for possible ground assaults.
A deputy battalion commander stated that positions in Bakhmut had been strengthened and that only military personnel were permitted entry. Any remaining civilians who wished to flee the city would be have to brave the incoming fire.
Putin’s primary target in the Donetsk region is Bakhmut, and months of Russian shelling have already left much of it in ruins.
“The city, its suburbs, the entire perimeter, and virtually the entire Bakhmut direction and Kostyantynivka are under wild, chaotic shelling,” stated the deputy commander of the Ukrainian Soboda battalion, Volodymyr Nazarenko.