NATO needs to “increase weapons production” to support Ukraine in the long term

The NATO never tire of repeating that is not and does not want to be part of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, the allies boast that their support for the Government of Volodymyr Zelensky is playing a “key role” in the victorious kyiv counter-offensive. At the ministerial meeting that concludes this Thursday in Brussels, the 30 member states (plus Sweden and Finland, which have guest status) have promised to accelerate the delivery of weapons to Ukraine.

Right now, the main demand of the Zelensky government to NATO is the sending of air defense systems in order to protect kyiv and the rest of the cities from the indiscriminate bombings that the Kremlin has relaunched this week. A new war escalation that the Russian president, Vladimir Putinhas justified by the “terrorist” attack on the Crimean bridge.

The Ukrainian Defense Minister participates in the meeting in Brussels, Oleksii Reznikov. “The main item on the agenda is the strengthening of Ukraine’s air defense“, has written on his Twitter account. Zelensky himself it calls for “progress from our partners on the issue of air and anti-missile defense and agreements on new supplies of other weapons and ammunition that we need.”

[La OTAN realizará ejercicios con armas nucleares tras la amenaza de Putin de usarlas]

“The top priority (of the meeting) will be more air defense for UkraineNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. “We have all seen why this is important: the horrific and indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian cities, dead civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure or bombardments against energy systems, especially serious now that winter is approaching. All of this demonstrates the urgent need for more air defenses for Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.

The first step has been taken by Germanywhich this week has delivered to kyiv a first air defense system IRIS-T, and has promised an additional three for next year. This is “a very important support for Ukraine in the fight against missile attacks, against this terror to which the population is subjected”, indicated the German Defense Minister, Christina Lambrecht.

Also USA has promised to send an air defense system as soon as possible NASAMS, one of the most advanced that kyiv has received in recent months. “Despite Putin’s new attacks, the Ukrainian forces have changed the dynamics of this war. They have liberated hundreds of villages from Russian occupation. And they have retaken thousands of square kilometers of their land,” said the US Secretary of Defense. , Lloyd Austin.

“These victories belong to the brave soldiers of Ukraine. But the efforts security assistance, training and support of the Contact Group (in support of Ukraine) have been vital. We’ve made great progress working together,” says Austin.

France will also accelerate the shipment of weapons to Ukraine. “We are going to deliver radars, systems and missiles (anti-aircraft) to protect Ukrainians from attacks, in particular to protect them from drone strikes,” announced Emmanuel Macron this Wednesday in an interview on France 2. The French president has also promised another six Caesar guns for kyiv.

“The allies have provided air defenses, but we need more. We need different types of air defenses: short-range, long-range, to knock down ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones. Different systems for different tasks. Ukraine is a big country, with many cities, so we must increase support to help Ukraine defend more cities and more territory against Russia’s horrific attacks on its civilian population,” insists Stoltenberg.

However, the massive shipment of weapons to Ukraine is causing an increasingly important gap in the arsenals of NATO countries, which threatens your defense. For this reason, the allies want to reinforce the dialogue with the military industry to increase production and thus replenish the depleted reserves.

“We need to increase the production of ammunition and weapons to ensure the deterrence and defense of our own allies, the NATO allies, but also to have enough to continue to support Ukraine in the long term,” explains Stoltenberg. “The longer the war in Ukraine lasts, this working with the industry becomes more important,” he adds.

NATO defense ministers also plan to discuss during the meeting that ends this Thursday in Brussels how strengthen the protection of essential infrastructure after the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.

“We have doubled our presence in the Baltic and North Seas to more than 30 ships, supported by maritime patrol aircraft and submarine capabilities. Any attack on critical allied infrastructure would be met with a united and forceful response.”

Allies are also concerned about the Russian president’s threat to resort to nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war. “We have clearly conveyed to Russia that this would have severe consequences for Russia. Russia knows that a nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought.. We closely monitor Russia’s nuclear posture and have seen no change. But we will continue to be vigilant, because Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible,” Stoltenberg said.