According to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, getting new fighter jets would be a key condition for success in the defense war. NATO does not see the matter in the same way.
17:05•Updated 20:59
Today, Tuesday, NATO’s defense ministers discussed the war situation in Ukraine. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine will also participate in the meeting in Brussels Oleksiy Reznikov and the ministers of Finland and Sweden Mikko Savola and Tobias Billström.
Acting Minister of Defense Savola (center) said at his own press conference that Finland is also increasing its own weapons production. According to Savola, ammunition production is being increased at the Defense Forces’ own production facilities in Ähtäri and Haapajärvi. Factories are recruiting more labor and production is shifting to more shifts.
After the world situation has changed, the arms industry now has a lot of orders. In the main, the orders have been made on the market principle, but the defense forces also order material themselves, Savola said.
Regarding the NATO meeting, the actual Ukraine part is tomorrow, Wednesday. At that time, NATO’s defense plan will also be discussed.
Savola did not elaborate on what kind of demands would be made to Finland when the country eventually joins NATO. According to him, the performance requirements are determined based on the country’s size, population, economic situation and other factors.
Savola believes that Finland is getting ratifications for its own membership application. From the discussions he had with the Hungarian representatives, he mentioned that the Hungarians confirmed that “Hungary is not going to be the last country to ratify Finland’s application”.
Stoltenberg spoke briefly.
Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg started the NATO meeting with a public announcement. However, it did not contain any news, and Stoltenberg did not take questions from the media.
Stoltenberg repeated the idea he presented earlier, according to which the Russian president Vladimir Putin made two mistakes when he started the war: he underestimated Ukraine’s defense capability and resilience, as well as the unity of the West.
The meeting then held a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. After this, the public part of the meeting ended.
Stoltenberg said that the aid given to Ukraine changed during the war.
Talk about arms aid
NATO is trying to find ways to adequately support Ukraine. A group of countries is being assembled under the leadership of Germany and Poland, which could send Leopard 2 main battle tanks.
According to Stoltenberg, the ammunition supply of the Ukrainian artillery is emerging as a key problem. Ukraine fires 6,000 to 7,000 grenades every day. Stocks are running low. There would be a special rush for the production of 155 millimeter grenades.
The Minister of Defense of Ukraine has highlighted the need to obtain Western F-16 fighter jets. NATO countries have taken a cautious approach to this. According to Stoltenberg, fighters are not a priority now.
He surmised that the expected major Russian invasion was in fact already underway.
Polish Minister of Defense Mariusz Blaszczak however, said during the meeting that the decision to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine is probable for him. Also the Dutch Minister of Defense Kajsa Ollongren wants the matter to be discussed.
Earlier in the day, the contact group of countries supporting Ukraine met. There the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated that the war was entering a critical phase. Russia expects the West to get tired of supporting Ukraine, but that must not happen, Austin emphasized.
Finland’s and Sweden’s membership applications will naturally be presented at the meeting. According to Secretary General Stoltenberg, the countries’ simultaneous membership is not the most important thing. For him, the most important thing is that the countries could be joined to NATO as soon as possible. Turkey and Hungary, which have not ratified the applications, are still an obstacle to membership.