Jens Stoltenberg: "Ukraine should have more heavy weapons"
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that Western countries should send more heavy weapons to Ukraine because "they absolutely depend on it to be able to deal with the brutal Russian invasion". He made the announcement at a press conference in The Hague after meeting with representatives of NATO's European allies Poland, Romania, Latvia, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Jens Stoltenberg considered the continuous requests that Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenski has made to NATO in recent months for more heavy weapons to deal with Russia's invasion, a request to which other Atlantic Alliance leaders have also paid attention.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that "the West was not doing enough" to support "the freedom and sovereignty of Ukraine". "And that is why I urge you, I ask you to do much more to deliver arms and artillery to Ukraine. You need this to defend your country," Morawiecki announced in front of NATO representatives. The Polish representative also argued that all Western countries would lose their "credibility" if Ukraine were to lose to Russia: "This would be a complete failure and disaster for the European Union, for our values and for NATO".
However, Stoltenberg also said that NATO was already "stepping up" deliveries and that officials would meet to coordinate further support, including the delivery of heavy weaponry.
In addition, the NATO Secretary General took the opportunity to mention the upcoming NATO summit in Madrid at the end of June, which he called "historic and transformational" because it will take the "first steps towards a strengthened NATO" and address the "need for a more robust and combat-ready forward presence, even greater readiness and more equipment and supplies". In this sense, he also recalled that the war in Ukraine has reinforced the capacity to "protect and defend every inch of allied territory".
Similar statements were made by the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander de Croo, who said that "since 20 February we live in a different world because the Russian aggression against Ukraine is a game changer in relation to the security of Europe" and that the "good news" since then is that "NATO is stronger, more united and more solid than ever". For his part, the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, considered that this Madrid summit will be "a milestone in strengthening NATO's capabilities and resources".
The seven countries also did not neglect the applications of Finland and Sweden to join NATO. "Their membership will make them safer and our Alliance stronger. I welcome the series of steps already taken to address Turkey's concerns, including the fight against the PKK. Our dialogue continues to find a united way forward," Stoltenberg said.
All this comes as Zelenski warns that the Ukraine war "opens the way for Russia to invade other countries". "This invasion is the first step by Moscow to move towards the conquest of other peoples," the Ukrainian president said in an address to the Czech parliament. For this reason Zelenski also called for more sanctions against the Kremlin. Zelenski warns that the invasion of Ukraine is only Moscow's first step towards the conquest of other countries.
