The head of NATO warns of new Russian offensives and urges to give better weapons to Ukraine

The future of the war in Ukraine, the way and the tempo in which to support kyiv, starred on Wednesday the second day of the World Economic Forum.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg issued a strong warning in Davos: “It is very dangerous to underestimate Russia.

They have mobilized 200,000 more soldiers.

[Vladimir] Putin has shown a willingness to sacrifice thousands and thousands of his soldiers.

They are now acquiring more and more weapons from other authoritarian regimes, including Iran, and planning new offensives.

So there is an urgent need.

More support is needed, more forward support, heavy weapons, modern weapons,” he said.

The leader of the Atlantic Alliance expressed his point of view shortly after the president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, addressed live, via video, the participants in the conference in the Swiss alpine station.

The leader of the country attacked by Russia stressed the urgent need to act with "speed and determination".

“In 2014, when Russia occupied Crimea, the world faltered;

in 2022, when he launched the full-scale invasion, too.

You don't have to hesitate anymore.

The delivery of missile defense systems to Ukraine has to be faster than the next Russian attacks.

The delivery of Western tanks has to be faster than a new Russian tank offensive," Zelensky claimed.

More information

War between Ukraine and Russia: Latest news live

The supply of Western tanks, especially the German Leopard 2 model, is the true epicenter of the debate at the moment, in a war in which the land component is essential and in which, with the spring thaw and a possible reorganization of the Russian forces, the fighting could be very fierce.

The United Kingdom has already announced its decision to deliver modern Western tanks ―the Challenger 2―, and Poland has also announced its willingness to do so ―precisely a total of 14 Leopard 2―, for which the authorization of Berlin is necessary, on whose government they are now all eyes are on

Some twenty countries have this highly efficient model, which would facilitate a shared effort.

So far Ukraine has run on Soviet models.

Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz, who also spoke at the Davos Forum on Wednesday, evaded clarifying the German position.

He claimed the strong contribution of his country to Ukraine, not only financially, but also in the delivery of military material, recalling the decisions to supply advanced anti-aircraft defense systems such as Patriots and other models, or infantry fighting vehicles .

And he assured that military support "will continue for as long as it takes."

The resignation of the German defense minister earlier this week has complicated the decision process.

Her successor, Boris Pistorius, has just taken over from him.

A meeting of the broad grouping of countries that support Ukraine is scheduled for this Friday.

A German source with prominent access to the fields of security and diplomacy consulted in Davos considered a green light to send the tanks as the most likely outcome.

Stoltenberg wanted to point out that “no one knows how this war will end, but it will most likely be through negotiation.

And if you want a negotiated peace, you need to provide military support.

Arms are the way to peace.

The only way to get Putin to the table is to convince him that he will not win on the battlefield.

In a recent article published in

, former US Secretary of Defense and State Robert Gates and Condoleezza Rice pointed out that the Russian leader's strategy is based precisely on the conviction that Moscow will outlast the West in this war. of wear

But against Russia, an economic dynamic that has been moving away from the most catastrophic scenarios is playing hard.

In Davos different points of view are perceived, some more optimistic -the deputy director of the IMF, Gita Gopinath, announced that her organization would revise its economic forecasts upwards- and others less so.

However, the leading indicators are far from the very dark picture that was the near general consensus until recently.

The luck of a mild autumn-winter has played a decisive role in containing the energy crisis;

the reduction in purchasing power due to inflation is already very tangible and will foster unrest.

There is, therefore, no reason for complacency, but the specter of an economic catastrophe that would undermine the support of public opinion for the fight against Putin has vanished,

At the military level, based on the extraordinary adaptability demonstrated by the Ukrainian forces in the use of new weapons, the trend seems unequivocally towards increased supplies.

The Netherlands also announced this Wednesday, through its Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, visiting Washington, the willingness to deliver a battery of Patriot missiles to kyiv.

Follow all the international information on

Subscribe to continue reading

Read without limits

Keep reading

I'm already a subscriber