Russia’s feared new major offensive in Ukraine has already begun, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday, warning that Ukraine is using more munitions than the military alliance produces.
“We do not see any sign that (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin is preparing for peace (…) What we see is that President Putin and Russia continue to want to control Ukraine,” he said, almost a year after Moscow started the war. in February 2022.
“We see how they are sending more troops, more weapons, more capabilities.”
Russia is widely believed to be planning a major new offensive to regain momentum in the war, which has been stalemate since Ukraine’s counter-offensives last year that recaptured vast swaths of its territory.
Ukraine says it needs main battle tanks, fighter jets and long-range missiles to counter this and take back more of its lost territory.
Russia’s feared new major offensive in Ukraine has already begun, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday, warning that Ukraine is using more munitions than the military alliance produces.
Stoltenberg said he expected the issue of the planes to be discussed at the next two-day meeting in Brussels of NATO defense ministers starting Tuesday.
“Now there is also a discussion on the issue of planes and I hope it will also be taken up tomorrow at the Brussels meeting,” he said.
Stoltenberg also stressed that NATO countries supplying Ukraine with fighter jets would not make NATO a party to the conflict.
“It’s clear we’re in a logistics race,” Stoltenberg said.
