"Militarily we are stronger than Russia. But at the same time I think that war in Ukraine has demonstrated that there are some serious gaps. For instance, when it comes to sustainment along, I think is that we have all the advanced weapon systems, but they need spare parts, they need maintenance and they also need ammunition. And in the beginning of war in Ukraine we depleted our stocks, but now they are running quite low. So, now we are focusing extremely so much on how to ramp up production," Stoltenberg said at the Munich Security Conference 2024.
Western countries have been providing Ukraine with military aid since the start of Russia's special military operation in February 2022. The support evolved from light artillery munitions and training to heavier weapons, including tanks and jets.
The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict. In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russian strikes.