NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference ahead of the ministerial meeting in Bucharest on 29-30 November that Ukraine will have a grim start to the winter. According to him, this period will also be difficult for the USA and Europe, which are going through a period of energy crisis and rising prices.
“The brutality that deprives Ukrainians of heat, light and food, rocket attacks on cities and civilian infrastructure is increasing. “This is a terrible start to winter for Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.
He expects that at a meeting in Bucharest, the foreign ministers of NATO countries will agree to expand the supply of non-lethal aid to Kiev “including winter clothing, fuel and medicines”.
“A terrible winter awaits Ukraine. It will be a difficult period for America and Europe as well. But if Russia wins, we will have to pay an even greater price. Therefore, NATO intends to continue to increase support for Ukraine. “We’re not going to back down,” Stoltenberg said.
According to the Alliance’s Secretary General, the best way to increase the chances of a peaceful resolution of the conflict is to support Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov previously estimated that the restoration of the country’s energy system is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. According to him, this money should be allocated in addition to what is already spent from the budget. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that as a result of Russia’s attacks on energy infrastructure, serious problems in electricity supply continue in almost all regions of Ukraine, and water shortages were experienced in 15 regions. This happens against the backdrop of near-zero temperatures. In Kyiv and the Kyiv region, bread disappeared from stores.
About the admission of Ukraine to NATO
When asked about the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO, Stoltenberg recalled that the bloc had accepted North Macedonia and Montenegro in recent years, and that Sweden and Finland were invited to join the alliance in 2022.
The Secretary General of the Alliance stressed that NATO is open with such decisions and that Russia does not have the right to veto the expansion of the organization.
“This message also applies to Ukraine,” said the Secretary General.
At the same time, Stoltenberg expressed the view that it is necessary to focus on providing assistance to Ukraine at the moment so that it can win the conflict with Russia.
“The most urgent task right now is, of course, to provide military assistance to Ukraine to prevent Putin from winning in Ukraine, but for Ukraine to liberate its territory and remain a sovereign state,” he added.
Stoltenberg said the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova were invited to a meeting in Bucharest to discuss “next steps to help them defend their independence”.
On 6 October, Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the EU Internal Market, said that Ukraine cannot join NATO while fighting continues on its territory. Under alliance rules, a state whose territorial disputes are not resolved cannot be admitted to a military bloc.
Expansion of weapons production
The Secretary-General also noted that NATO countries were able to significantly increase the production of Soviet-style ammunition in Eastern Europe for Ukrainian military personnel, who still use large volumes of Soviet artillery and require ammunition and spare parts. Stoltenberg also noted that some countries in the eastern flank of the alliance still have significant production capacity for it.
Earlier, the Secretary General said that the supply of modern air defense systems to Ukraine is a priority for the alliance.
“NATO countries have already transferred to Ukraine a number of advanced systems, such as HIMARS missile launchers, and this is done in such a way that when specialists are needed to use this or other advanced artillery systems, Ukrainians are trained in NATO. countries,” Stoltenberg said.
He emphasized that experts from the member states of the Alliance are not involved in the maintenance of air defense systems, therefore NATO does not see itself as a party to the conflict.
“NATO personnel are not doing any work inside Ukraine. So this confirms that NATO is not a party to the conflict, that we do not have military forces or troops in Ukraine, but that the alliance fully supports Ukraine,” he said.
On November 21, Stoltenberg ruled out the possibility of “meaningful dialogue” with Russia under the current circumstances. He also said NATO had been providing aid to Ukraine since 2014, but “could do much more, even before the invasion”.