On Thursday, NATO’s Secretary-General held a meeting with Ukraine’s President to address the ongoing conflict and the requirements of Ukrainian troops.

This meeting occurred shortly after Russia accused Ukraine’s Western allies of being involved in the planning and execution of a missile strike on the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in the annexed Crimean Peninsula the previous week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed that during their discussion, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pledged to work toward securing support from NATO member nations to provide additional air defense systems.

These systems would be used to safeguard Ukraine’s power plants and energy infrastructure, which suffered significant damage during Russian attacks the previous winter, the Associated Press reported.

President Zelenskyy also emphasized the ongoing threats posed by drones, missiles, and artillery attacks targeting residential areas, which had resulted in at least three civilian casualties within the past day.

In response, Secretary-General Stoltenberg noted that NATO has contracts worth 2.4 billion euros ($2.5 billion) for the supply of ammunition to Ukraine.

These contracts encompass items such as 155 mm Howitzer shells, anti-tank guided missiles, and tank ammunition.

Ukraine has been actively seeking NATO membership, and Secretary-General Stoltenberg reaffirmed on Thursday that Ukraine’s future lies within the trans-Atlantic military alliance.

He assured that NATO would continue to stand by Kyiv for as long as necessary.

It’s worth noting that the Kremlin views Ukraine’s potential NATO membership as an existential threat, and Russia has cited this as one of its reasons for the invasion of Ukraine.

Written by staff