Reiterating calls for the Western to provide long-term support to Kyiv, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned that the war in Ukraine could last for years, stressing that they must not let up in supporting it even if the costs are high.
In an interview published Sunday by the German daily newspaper Bild, Stoltenberg noted the help is needed because of the rising energy and food prices, too, on top of the military support, underscoring that the supply of state-of-the-art weaponry to Ukrainian troops would increase its chances of liberating the eastern Donbas region, which is currently partly under the control of Russian forces.
Pointing out that the hardware support could increase Ukraine’s capabilities to push Russia’s troops out of the Donbas region, he called for alliance member nations to continue delivering weapons to Kyiv.
According to him, the food and fuel costs are nothing compared to the ones Ukrainians pay daily on the frontline and which would definitely increase if Russian troops were to achieve Moscow’s goals in Ukraine.
The NATO chief said that the Russian assaults on Ukrainian forces intensified after the EU executive recommended that Ukraine should be granted candidate status to join the bloc, something the EU member countries are expected to endorse at a summit this week.
Ukrainian defense minister Oleksiy Reznikov and other officials asked for a surge in weapons and ammunition during this week’s meetings at NATO headquarters with around 50 countries of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
Similar comments about the need for Ukraine to prepare for a long war were made by the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who visited Kyiv on Friday, ramping up calls for NATO members to back Kyiv in its fight against Russian invasion.
Johnson stressed the need for allies to show the Ukrainians they were there to support them for a long time and to avoid Ukraine fatigue, noting the importance of Ukraine strengthening its ability to defend itself faster than Russia can renew its attacking capacity.
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