London, Mar. 23, (dpa/GNA) - Western countries will have to support Ukraine for a long time yet, amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the Guardian in an interview published on Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t plan for peace, he’s planning for more war,” Stoltenberg said in an interview with the British newspaper.
Stoltenberg added Russia was increasing military industrial production and reaching out to authoritarian regimes in an attempt to get more weapons.
As a result, the US, Britain France, Germany and other Western states had to be prepared to support Ukraine with weapons, ammunition and spares over a long time.
“The need will continue to be there, because this is a war of attrition; this is about industrial capacity to sustain the support,” he said.
Earlier this week EU countries agreed to supply Ukraine with 1 million rounds of artillery ammunition over the next 12 months.
With equipment provided by the West, Ukrainians would be able to “launch an offensive and to retake territory” although he added NATO was not a party to the conflict.
GNA