NATO Secretary General urges more arms deliveries

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has called on the West to step up its efforts in supplying heavy weapons to Ukraine.

Brussels - "In the long term, Ukraine cannot only defend itself with weapons that are still from the Soviet Union era, but it must switch to modern Western weapons," he said to Welt am Sonntag. Only in this way could Kyiv successfully ward off the Russian invasion. "Ukraine is in dire need of more heavy weapons, the West should step up supplies, do more and prepare for a long-term engagement," said the former Norwegian prime minister.

"We have to make sure that Ukraine is able to defend itself," he added. Ukraine must be prepared for a "long war" with Russia, which could last for months or even years. "The courage and bravery of the Ukrainian soldiers alone are not enough. This also requires sustained military support from the West," said Stoltenberg. But he also assured: "We will support Ukraine as long as President Putin continues this war." The NATO chief expressly praised the German government's role in the conflict with Russia: "Germany has been playing an important and very constructive role in supporting Ukraine and the NATO countries on the eastern flank for many months."

Berlin has promised Ukraine economic and military support, the traffic light coalition supports the sanctions against Russia "in full" and, in addition to aircraft, ships and anti-aircraft systems, has also sent additional troops to NATO's eastern flank. "In addition, Chancellor Scholz's announcement that he would invest an additional 100 billion euros in defense was an important political signal." According to Stoltenberg, the alliance expects the Ukraine war to escalate further in the coming weeks: "We have to prepare for Russian offensives and even more brutality, even greater hardship and even more destruction of critical infrastructure and residential areas," said the Norwegian.

However, Stoltenberg continued, the Russian soldiers in the Ukraine war suffered "from poor leadership, low morale and many don't know what they are fighting for". At the same time, the NATO chief warned Russia against the use of nuclear weapons: "Our message is clear: if nuclear weapons were used, there would only be losers on all sides." Stoltenberg also said: "A nuclear war cannot be won and it should never be fought, this also applies to Russia". He condemned Moscow's nuclear rhetoric as "irresponsible and reckless". However, the alliance has no indication that Russian nuclear weapons have been raised to a higher level of readiness since the war began on February 24. In the event of Sweden and Finland joining NATO, he held out the prospect of support for the states for the transitional phase up to final membership: "But should both countries apply for membership, I am absolutely sure that for the interim phase between the application for membership and the ratification of the accession protocols by the parliaments of the 30 NATO countries, appropriate assurances will be given for the security of Sweden and Finland." A lot is conceivable there. Stoltenberg: "For example, there could be a declaration by NATO or more NATO presence and exercises in the two countries."

Source: Der Newsticker

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