Stoltenberg announces closer cooperation between NATO and Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the Alliance is stepping up its cooperation with Ukraine. NATO is taking a leading role in providing security, training and increasing Ukraine's ability to produce its own weapons.

Source: Stoltenberg at the Defence Industry Forum in Washington on the sidelines of the NATO Summit; Suspilne, a Ukrainian public broadcaster 

Quote: "...The need for us to work more closely with partners. That’s partly Ukraine. And we are stepping up our cooperation with Ukraine. We are now taking over the lead as NATO for the provision of security assistance and training. We’ll have the command in Germany, 700 people there, and in some logistics hubs in the eastern part of the Alliance.

We are doing that also to help to not only support but also to invest and develop projects together and increase the capability of Ukraine to produce weapons and munitions themselves."

Details: Stoltenberg said that the reality of the war in Ukraine had demonstrated not only that stockpiles and production capabilities were too small, but also that there were huge gaps in interoperability between troops.

Stoltenberg gave an example of a German-Dutch brigade that was supposed to be ready for joint operations, but in reality, the standard 155mm ammunition that the Netherlands had could not be used in German howitzers and vice versa.

He stressed that the summit intends to decide on increasing defence spending and defence orders to stimulate the military industry and to offer new opportunities for joint arms production by different alliance countries.

Background:

• The NATO summit in Washington is taking place from 9 to 11 July and, according to media reports, is expected to declare Ukraine's "irreversible" path to the Alliance.

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