Ukraine's allies, pressed by Volodymyr Zelensky to deliver more arms and ammunition, are meeting in Germany this Friday to coordinate their military aid to Kiev, which says it is preparing a major counter-offensive.
Organized on the American base of Ramstein, in the south of Germany, by the American Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the meeting will also take place in the presence of the boss of NATO, who has just returned from Kiev.
Jens Stoltenberg spoke there on Thursday with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who constantly calls on Westerners to deliver more armor, artillery, ammunition, but also combat aircraft and long-range firing systems. to hit Russian warehouses, far behind the front line.
Between insufficient stocks, fear of escalation and logistical problems, Europeans and Americans have been more cautious than kyiv would have liked.
Zelensky urged Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday to help him "
overcome the reluctance of (our) partners regarding the delivery of certain weapons
".
The delivery of fighters to Ukraine divides kyiv's supporters in particular, with Germany being particularly reluctant.
Slovakia and Poland have started delivering Soviet-designed Mig-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.
Warsaw said it was ready to donate all of its fighter units, around thirty.
But sending modern Western-designed aircraft has yet to be discussed.
Several countries have posted openings and a decision would be possible "
before the summer
“, recently affirmed the Danish Minister of Defense.
This will be one of the subjects on the menu of the discussions at Ramstein which bring together representatives of around fifty countries.
The Alliance is however focused on the supply of ammunition and spare parts for systems already deployed in Ukraine, Stoltenberg said Thursday.
The West has provided more than $150 billion in aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, including $65 billion in the military field, he recalled.
Air Defense
After resisting the Russian assaults on the Eastern front all winter, the Ukrainian forces are preparing their own offensive for the spring or summer.
While the fierce defense of Bakhmout - the epicenter city of the fighting in the east - has cost the Russian attackers dearly, the Ukrainian army has also suffered significant losses and is consuming precious stocks of ammunition.
Ukraine announced this week that it had received the first American Patriot air defense systems, an operation coordinated by the United States, Germany and the Netherlands.
French AMX-10 light combat tanks are already on the battlefield, as are British and German heavy tanks delivered since the end of March after being long requested by Kiev.
"
I'm sure they can make a difference on the ground
," assured German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
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NATO membership?
Jens Stoltenberg's visit to kyiv was also the occasion for Volodymyr Zelensky to press NATO to invite his country to join the Atlantic Alliance.
Stoltenberg meanwhile reiterated the Alliance's support for Ukrainian ambitions but said nothing about the timetable, saying the priority should be to win the war.
“
The future of Ukraine is in the Euro-Atlantic family, the future of Ukraine is in NATO.
At the same time, the main objective of the Alliance, of its members, is to ensure that Ukraine wins
,” the official noted.
kyiv has been calling for this membership for years, and even more so since the Russian invasion of February 2022, seeing it as the only real guarantee of its security against Moscow.
Favorable in principle to the integration of this country, NATO is on the other hand very vague on the deadlines, an entry into the organization risking provoking an escalation in the conflict because Russia considers such an enlargement as a red line .
