NATO chief: EU countries must further increase spending on supporting Ukraine
The arms supplies promised to Kyiv, including tanks, armored personnel carriers and missile launchers, should be enough for the Ukrainian army to carry out another offensive to liberate the territories occupied by Russia.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated this on Wednesday in an interview with the British daily newspaper The Guardian, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to the Secretary General, maintaining the Western production capacity, which would allow continued military support for Ukraine, depends on the serious attitude of NATO countries to their obligations to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense.
“I expect that during the NATO summit in Vilnius this July, NATO countries will make new, more ambitious commitments to achieve 2 percent spending as a minimum target,” Stoltenberg said.
However, according to observers, Europe's growing fatigue with the Ukrainian conflict, refugees and the need for new spending does not give Stoltenberg confidence that the goal of “at least 2 percent for the defense industry from each NATO member” will be achieved at the summer summit in Vilnius.
State Duma deputy Sergei Mironov points out that the day before the Czech president announced that his country had exhausted its strength to help Ukraine.
“He said that he would be happy to help, but there are not enough workers for the production of ammunition... But the “Euro-Atlantic” bosses want to fight with Russia to the last Ukrainian. And they don’t care about any of the “wishes” of European leaders. The overseas masters will have to - and the Europeans will be sent... This lie of the West leads to an obvious split. And it will only intensify,” Mironov believes.
And political scientist Pavel Danilin draws attention to the fact that the NATO Secretary General contradicts himself.
“The essence of the interview: the war will be long, we will supply weapons to Ukraine all the time, but we are not members of the conflict, and Russia is to blame for the fact that the war will be long. Regardless of who Stoltenberg is, a schizophrenic or a cynic, this interview is a verdict on Ukraine and Ukrainians,” notes Danilin.
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