According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Russia is winning the battle for ammunition in Ukraine, where the fight has devolved into an attrition-based battle.
On February 23, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg issued a warning, stating that the West should not undervalue Russia’s firepower advantage while the conflict in Ukraine is escalating into an attrition battle. The NATO supremo thinks that Moscow is prevailing in the arms race.
Last week, Stoltenberg stated during a speech at the Munich Security Conference that Russia has so far been able to move more supplies and personnel to the front lines than Ukraine.
The conflict in Ukraine, he observed, “is consuming a considerable amount of ammunition and weakening the military arsenals of the nations in the alliance.”
The use of ammunition by Ukraine is “several times greater than the production capacity of all NATO members, placing pressure on the defense sectors of the alliance. Mr. Stoltenberg emphasized the significance of averting this circumstance.
Despite the West providing Ukraine with tens of millions of dollars’ worth of artillery shells, Russia still held the advantage in weaponry from the beginning of the conflict. Western estimates place the daily consumption of shells by the Ukrainian side at 5,000–6,000, compared to the Russian side’s range of 5,000–60,000.
Stoltenberg claims that since last fall, the conflict in Ukraine has evolved into a war of attrition. “A war of attrition is a battle of logistics,” the speaker said. “It’s about how each side seeks to get what they need, from materials, parts, ammunition, and fuel, to the front lines.”
To immediately address this gap, Stoltenberg urged NATO nations to enhance munitions output. Josep Borrell, the high representative of the European Union for external affairs, issued a warning that Kyiv will have little chance of victory on the battlefield if the West does not provide Ukraine with the weaponry it requires in the next weeks.
In a related event, Stoltenberg stated on February 22 that there are some signs China may be thinking about providing Russia with lethal weapons.
“We have observed some signs that they are making preparations for that. The United States, a NATO ally, has issued a warning against it “NATO’s top official stated.
The Wall Street Journal had cited US and European officials as stating that although Beijing does not appear to have made a decision, the West has recently acquired intelligence indicating that China is considering providing weapons to Russia. final conclusion. The US government under President Joseph Biden is debating making these intelligence reports public. China, though, has refuted the allegations and blamed Western military assistance to Ukraine for escalating the crisis.
