A complicated day for NATO, while the alarm is growing for a new, imminent large-scale Russian offensive.
Dutch F-35s stationed in Poland scrambled at dawn to intercept and hold off three Russian planes in the Kaliningrad area, Vltava airspace was closed (and then reopened) over fears that a drone unidentified was flying over the country while the Norwegian intelligence service has warned that Moscow has begun to deploy ships and submarines with tactical nuclear weapons in the Baltic Sea (for the first time since the fall of the USSR).
Not only.
The Kremlin is apparently massing fighters on the border with Ukraine for a massive air assault, as the ground offensive is struggling to bring the desired results.
ANSA Agency
'Russian ships with nuclear weapons in the Baltic' - World
Warning from the Norwegian services, it is the first time for 30 years (ANSA)
"It has been almost a year since the start of the war but we, the contact group for Ukraine, are more united than ever and will support Kiev to the end," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III said as he opened the ninth meeting of the Ramstein format, meeting for the occasion at the NATO headquarters in Brussels at the same time as the Defense Ministerial;
the meeting was attended by the Ukrainian minister Oleksii Reznikov - who presented himself with a clutch bag depicting the technical diagram of a jet - and the high representative of EU foreign policy Josep Borrell.
American sources quoted by the Financial Times launched the alarm of a possible massive air attack by Russia.
The USA, precisely during the meeting at NATO, would have shared data of
intelligence on the possibility of an air attack.
"What we really need to focus on now is Ukraine's ability to defend the skies through aerial artillery, equipped with the proper ammunition. Fighter jets are not and will not be that crucial against the Russian air force," he said. a US official.
Austin, however, denied in a press conference that he "sees" the concentration of aircraft on the border with Ukraine and limited himself to stating that the Russian aviation is still "very effective" and therefore it will be essential to supply Kiev with anti-aircraft systems and anti-missiles so as to have "all the means to defend themselves", even in the event that the Russians "should decide to deploy the air force".
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
Ukraine: losses of Russian soldiers never so high since the beginning of the war
"Before considering sending new platforms, it is crucial to deliver the tanks, armored vehicles, and in general what has been promised so far, ensuring the integration of the vehicles on the battlefield", he specified.
The ammunition chapter in particular is sore.
Because the allies don't produce enough of them, whether it's artillery or anti-aircraft.
Stoltenberg then announced new guidelines for the allies (higher stock obligations are expected) and Borrell aired the hypothesis of using the European Peace Facility for common purchases, both for EU countries and for donations to Kiev.
In short, Russia represents a challenge to the security of the entire alliance and everyone must make their own assessments when it comes to donating important military means to Ukraine.
The jets have therefore been discussed but the allies are not yet ready and other priorities have been judged.
Austin made it clear that in the spring Kiev will attempt "a counter-offensive" and that the allies will play their part.
The coalition of tanks has been formed - led by Berlin together with seven other countries - and by April it should deliver the first 30 Leopard 2s to Ukraine.
The joint efforts of Holland, Denmark and Germany should then put another 100 Leopard 1s on the table. "Despite some setbacks, Ukraine has shown that it will prevail in this war and that these setbacks will only be temporary," Austin commented, sounding his charge. ..