NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg insisted Tuesday that the priority right now for allies militarily supporting Ukraine is to send committed battle tanks and ammunition, noting that at this point fighters are not an «urgent issue.»
Ahead of the meeting at NATO headquarters of the Ramstein group, the military coalition of more than 40 countries supporting Ukraine under the leadership of the United States, at which the countries are expected to finalize the supply of tanks to Kiev, Stoltenberg has stressed that the priority is to get the equipment committed by the allies such as armored vehicles and battle tanks delivered, insisting that on the table of the allies is also the need to provide the Ukrainian Army with ammunition and training in the new systems.
Together with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksi Reznikov, the allies will discuss the deployment of tanks promised at the end of January, a coalition of which Spain is a member, although its contribution is still pending confirmation while Defense is carrying out technical reviews of half a dozen tanks.
He has been more skeptical about the possibility of delivering fighter jets to the Ukrainian Army, the main demand made by Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski during his European tour last week in London, Paris and Brussels. «The issue of fighter jets is not the most urgent issue, but it is an ongoing discussion and we have consultations among allies on what kind of systems to bring to Ukraine,» he said when asked about this issue.
Stoltenberg did not close the door to this option, indicating that there are consultations on the possible provisioning of this type of heavy weaponry and that the military assistance of the allies to Ukraine «has evolved and will continue to do so as the war progresses».
«It is important to discuss systems, but it is important to make sure that the systems sent work, that they have the components they need, logistics and ammunition,» the former Norwegian prime minister said.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
