The NATO chief has arrived in Ukraine’s capital to hold talks to discuss the ongoing war as it is now in it’s 20th month.
Jens Stoltenberg Secretary General of NATO discussed providing Ukraine with “additional air defences systems.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky told a press conference with Stoltenberg that they talked about the anticipation of attacks on our infrastructure by Russia” and joining NATO.
Zelensky said, “We have demonstrated that Ukraine’s entry into NATO is a way to strengthen Ukraine and also to make NATO stronger.
“Our cooperation is strong, our alliance with NATO is natural.”
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Among the topics discussed in their conversation, Zelensky said they “need to take action to defend” their territory with the assistance of air defences over the winter months.
He said, “the NATO Secretary-General has committed to acting alongside member states to protect our energy infrastructure this winter.
He added, “we have discussed the possibility of importing additional air defence systems from NATO member states.
The NATO chief also discussed the possibility of increasing ammunition production as Ukrainian forces are to continue with their counteroffensive during the winter months.
Stoltenberg said at the press conference, “And then we will have the NATO Industry Forum in Stockholm next month. Again, the main focus will be on how to invest more.”
He added, “We had a meeting recently at NATO. It is now clear that we have what we call framework contracts, standards contracts, for $2.5 billion for key ammunition out of which $1 billion is already firm signed contracts.
“So yes, rest assured we will produce, we will deliver ammunition, weapons, because this is about solidarity with Ukraine.
“It would be a tragedy for Ukrainians if Russia wins but it will also be extremely dangerous for us.
“So it is in our security interest to ensure that we provide Ukraine with the support they need to win this war.”
NATO also announced on Thursday they will temporarily deploy two surveillance aircraft with warning and control system to Siauliai, Lithuania.
The first of the two will arrive on Thursday and undertake missions to monitor Russian military activity near to NATO’s borders.
“Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine has heightened our focus on security in the Baltic Sea region,” said NATO‘s Acting Spokesperson Dylan White.
Our AWACS aircraft can detect aircraft and missiles hundreds of kilometres away, making them a crucial early warning capability for NATO. We thank Lithuania for hosting the aircraft.
“This is a significant contribution to our shared security.”
