Stoltenberg: Allies will supply modern heavy weapons to Ukraine, but it will take time

LAST UPDATE: 14.56

NATO countries will supply modern heavy weapons to Ukraine, but this “takes time” because it requires training of the Ukrainian military in their use, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced today.

“We have taken the urgent measure, but it takes time,” he explained at a news conference before the start of a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

“The transition from Soviet-era military equipment to modern-day NATO equipment requires the Ukrainians to be ready to use it,” he said. “This is a difficult, demanding transition.”

NATO allies have so far supplied Ukraine with heavy Soviet-era weapons from their stockpiles because Ukrainians have been trained to use them. Kiev’s demands now concern weapons systems at the disposal of the allied forces.

“These are long-range systems, anti-aircraft systems with NATO standards, which requires training, maintenance,” said Stoltenberg, who attended a meeting in The Hague yesterday with the leaders of seven Alliance countries (Netherlands, North Holland, the Netherlands). Poland, Romania, Portugal, Denmark and Latvia).

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov will attend a NATO ministerial meeting. It will be preceded by a meeting of the “contact group” set up by the US.

“Minister Reznikov will brief on the urgent needs, the type of equipment and their mission so that weapons systems can play a decisive role on the battlefield,” he said.

Ukraine is requesting, among other things, 300 multi-launcher missile systems, 2,000 armored vehicles and 1,000 drones, Mikhail Pontolyak, an adviser to President Zelensky, announced on his Twitter account before the NATO summit.

SOURCE: AMPE