According to the Secretary General of the alliance, Ukraine needs various systems capable of destroying different types of targets, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and dronesLONDON, October 11.
/tass/. The issue of supplying Ukraine with modern air defense systems and shells for them will be one of the main topics of the upcoming meeting of NATO defense ministers next week. This was stated by Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with the BBC Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday.
"NATO allies are ready to expand the supply of various military equipment to [Kiev]. Now, of course, there is an urgent need for air defense systems, so I welcome the statements of the United States, Germany and other allies about their readiness to supply new modern air defense systems and in greater numbers than before," Stoltenberg said. "They have proven their high efficiency - we have seen that in recent weeks and months the Ukrainians have managed to shoot down a large the number of missiles, however, more replacement systems and shells to them are needed to protect a large area. This will be one of the main topics that will be discussed at the meeting of defense ministers next week."
The NATO Secretary General stressed that Ukraine needs various systems capable of destroying different types of targets, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones. Stoltenberg acknowledged that this factor, as well as the need to protect a large territory from strikes, make the task of helping Kiev much more difficult. According to him, ways to increase the volume of supplies, as well as to organize the transportation of air defense systems to Ukraine will be discussed on Wednesday during the meeting of the contact group on Ukraine. The very same meeting of the heads of defense departments of the alliance countries will be held on October 12-13 in Brussels.
Commenting on the strikes inflicted by Russia on Ukrainian territory on Monday, Stoltenberg noted that NATO countries "should be careful and not underestimate Russia, continuing to provide assistance to Ukraine and prepare for a long game," using both their stocks and "increasing the production of shells and weapons to continue supplies to Ukraine and refilling their own warehouses".
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday at an operational meeting with members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation announced a massive strike on the energy, military and communications facilities of Ukraine, and also warned Kiev that if the Ukrainian authorities try to continue to commit terrorist attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation, the responses will be tough.
