NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday called for a “significant increase” in military aid for Kyiv.
“This is a pivotal moment in the war and the need for a significant increase in support for Ukraine,” the NATO chief told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Stoltenberg claimed that more weapons to Ukraine would make a negotiated solution more likely. “If we want a negotiated peaceful solution tomorrow we need to provide more weapons today,” he said.
Stoltenberg made a similar claim a few weeks ago when he said the “quickest path to peace” is through pouring more weapons into Ukraine. But as things stand, there’s no indication peace talks will happen soon, and the Western support emboldens Ukraine to make unrealistic demands, such as calling for war crimes tribunals for Russia before negotiations can happen.
For their part, Russia maintains that any negotiated solution must recognize the territory it has annexed as part of the Russian Federation. With the two sides so far apart, there’s no end to the fighting in sight.
The NATO chief’s latest comments come ahead of a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which consists of military officials from about 50 countries. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd will chair the meeting, and announcements for new military aid for Kyiv are expected.
Stoltenberg also said Wednesday that NATO countries are in consultations on sending more tanks to Ukraine. All eyes are on Berlin in that regard, as Poland and Finland are ready to provide Kyiv with their German-made Leopard 2 tanks, but the delivery needs to be signed off by Germany.
Sending more tanks would represent another major escalation in aid for Kyiv as the US and NATO seem less and less concerned about the risk of provoking Moscow, which has made it clear it views the war in Ukraine as a fight against the Western powers.