according to NATO, Russia compensates for the lack of “quality” of its army by the “quantity”

DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP

Ukrainian soldiers taking part in military training, in northwestern Ukraine near the border with Belarus, February 11, 2023.

WAR IN UKRAINE – According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Russia has changed its strategy on the front in Ukraine. “We are already assisting” to a new Russian offensive, he said at a press conference on Monday February 13, adding that Vladimir Putin is sending “hundreds and hundreds more troops”. In doing so, the Russian President accepts “a very high rate of loss”. What is missing “to Russia in quality, it tries to compensate for it in quantity”he summarizes.

Jens Stoltenberg also issued a warning: the Ukrainian forces consume a quantity of ammunition far superior to the production of the Member States of NATO, which must imperatively increase their capacities.

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“Yes, we have a problem”

“The current rate of ammunition use by Ukraine is much higher than our current rate of production”he declared during this press conference which comes on the eve of a meeting of NATO defense ministers. “This puts our defense industries under pressure”he added.

“Yes, we have a problem, yes, it’s a challenge”he acknowledged, while emphasizing that the Alliance had begun to act, referring both to the increase in capacity in the short term – with work on weekends for example – but also, in the medium term , investments in production capacities.

The subject will be discussed on Tuesday during a meeting of the support group for Ukraine led by the United States, then later by the defense ministers of the Alliance states, he said. .

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Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov will take part in both meetings and will inform the allies about the needs of Ukrainian forces, Jens Stoltenberg said.

The supply of combat aircraft will be discussed, he continued. But “it will take time and the short term priorities are ammunition and armaments promised with fuel and spare parts”insisted the Secretary General of NATO.

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