NATO chief calls on members to ramp up ammunition production for Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday urged members of the alliance to ramp up ammunition production and other military aid for Ukraine as Russia continues its invasion.

“We see no signs that President Putin is preparing for peace. What we see is the opposite, he is preparing for more war, for new offensives and new attacks,” Stoltenberg said at the start of a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers.

“So it makes it even more important that NATO Allies and partners provide more support to Ukraine,” the alliance chief stressed. 

Russia’s war on Ukraine will hit its one-year mark next week, and Moscow has appeared to be amassing troops in preparation for a new offensive surge around the anniversary.

“When it comes to artillery, we need ammunition, we need spare parts, we need maintenance, we need all the logistics to ensure that we are able to sustain these weapon systems … It’s not only about discussing new systems, but ensuring that all the existing systems are working as they should,” Stoltenberg said.

The defense ministers are set to discuss providing more ammunition and “how to ramp up production and strengthen our defense industry to be able to provide the necessary ammunition to Ukraine and also to replenish our own stocks,” Stoltenberg said.    

They’ll also decide on “new long-term guidelines” for defense planning, which Stoltenberg called “extremely important in a world which is more competitive and more dangerous, and when there is a full-fledged war going on in Europe.”

The U.S. on Monday told its citizens in Russia to leave the country immediately as the war wages on. 

Kyiv last week reported that more than 1,000 Russian soldiers were killed in a single day of fighting, and Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has made advances near the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been hopeful that Ukraine could be accepted into the alliance of the U.S., Canada and 28 European nations, but since all 30 member states must unanimously agree to approve of the addition, the country is unlikely to be granted membership soon. 

NATO considers Ukraine a “partner country,” but without membership, Kyiv isn’t protected by the alliance’s security guarantee.

Stoltenberg on Tuesday underscored that NATO is supporting Ukraine in its self-defense, not stepping into the conflict.

“We have the right to help Ukraine uphold the right for self-defense. So NATO and NATO allies are not party to the conflict, but we support Ukraine in the right of self-defense,” he said.

Stoltenberg acknowledged that “the type of support we provide to Ukraine has evolved as the war has evolved,” in the wake of news that the U.S. and Germany will equip Ukraine with battle tanks.