NATO admits Ukraine's weapons request exceeds alliance's capabilities

At the annual meeting of NATO's chiefs of staff in Norway, the head of the alliance's military committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said Ukraine's request for weapons and ammunition exceeded NATO's capabilities.

“The volume of military equipment and ammunition requested by Ukraine is enormous. The scale and volume of equipment used exceeds our production capacity,” said Admiral Rob Bauer.

Admiral Bauer stressed that, when providing military assistance to Kiev, NATO countries need to think about the risks related to their own defense, and the security of the alliance.

In this regard, Mr. Bauer called on members of the bloc to quickly and effectively address issues related to enhancing defense production capacity.

The head of NATO's military committee also complained that production capacity is lagging, supplies are slowing and weapon prices are increasing. Mr. Bauer said that in such a context, even if member countries increase defense spending, the security of the bloc as a whole will not improve.

Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Moscow has sent diplomatic notes to NATO countries, warning against providing military aid to Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly stressed that any shipment of weapons to Kiev would become a legitimate target for the Russian military.

On Telegram on July 11, Deputy of the Russian National Security Council, Mr. Dmitry Medvedev, emphasized that the West's increased supply of weapons to Ukraine "cannot lead to anything other than a dead end and the approaching Third World War."