Julianne Smith recalled that the West had previously created a group to coordinate actions in providing military assistance to KievWASHINGTON, December 13.
/tass/. Ukraine and the West are faced with a shortage of weapons and military equipment, some NATO countries - with their genuine shortage. This was acknowledged on Tuesday by the Permanent Representative of the United States to the alliance, Julianne Smith.
"This is a very serious challenge for NATO allies, <...> it is a significant challenge for the Ukrainian armed forces themselves, who are facing shortages and dwindling reserves," the American diplomat said.
She recalled that the West had previously created a group to coordinate actions in providing military assistance to Kiev. "They (the participants of this association - approx. TASS) are beginning to consider the issue of dwindling arsenals in Ukraine. And they meet every month with the participation of [representatives of the Western military] industry, trying to determine how they can send the right signals to the industry in order to provide it with the necessary guarantees so that it reopens production lines," Smith said, speaking at a seminar at the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In addition, the Permanent Representative continued, issues of this kind are being discussed at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. "These efforts are focused on dwindling stocks in NATO, because countries like Estonia, which has provided huge amounts of military assistance to Ukraine, face very genuine shortages [of weapons and military equipment], and they are not alone. We see this in the alliance as a whole," Smith stressed.
Finally, the American ambassador to the North Atlantic Alliance added, the EU as a structure works with those "member countries that face dwindling stocks [of weapons]."
According to Smith, the West should not allow the EU and NATO to send different signals to their military industry. In conclusion, the Permanent Representative expressed confidence that Western states will find ways to increase the production of weapons and military equipment.
