NATO members must “share the burden fairly”
Ukraine will need at least $40 billion a year until it defeats Russia, according to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg promised that long-term aid from NATO would be forthcoming, in a speech in Finland, on Thursday. Detailed commitments would be hammered out at the NATO summit next month.
“At the NATO summit and in the preparatory discussions for it, we will discuss how to ensure that we support Ukraine for as long as necessary,” Stoltenberg said.
He emphasised that the Ukrainians need reliable aid to be able to continue fighting against the Russians, and put the figure at over $40 billion a year. He called for NATO members to “share the burden fairly.”
At the same time, he sought to reassure the public that NATO has no plans to send troops to Ukraine and will instead continue providing military and financial support.
The temperature has risen significantly in recent weeks after the US provided authorization for the first time for Kyiv to use American weapons to strike targets inside Russia.
In response to the authorization, former president Dmitriy Medvedev warned that deepening Western involvement in the conflict risks escalation and even nuclear exchange.
“This is not ‘military assistance’ at all, but participation in a war against us. And such actions of theirs may well become a casus belli,” Medvedev said.
“The current military conflict with the West is developing according to the worst possible scenario,” he continued.
“There is a constant escalation in the power of applicable NATO weapons.
“Therefore, today no one can rule out the transition of the conflict to its final stage.”
Last Saturday, Russia reported that US-made HIMARS artillery had attacked targets around Belgorod.
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