NATO has warned that Western ammunition supplies for Ukraine are fast running out as the Russian invasion shows no signs of ending.
The warning comes as Ukraine’s allies urge the beleaguered country to continue fighting despite declining support from major military partners.
NATO’s top military official, Admiral Rob Bauer, said at the Warsaw Security Forum on Tuesday: “The bottom of the barrel is now visible.”
“We are giving away weapons systems to Ukraine, which is great, and ammunition, but not from full warehouses. We started giving away half-full or lower warehouses in Europe,” Bauer said, adding that even these stores were running low.
NATO officials were not the only ones to admit that ammunition supplies were low.
NATO’s top military official, Admiral Rob Bauer (pictured), said: ‘The bottom of the barrel is now visible’
British Armed Forces Secretary James Heappey told the same panel that while supplies are currently low, the West needs to increase its capacity to make more ammunition.
“We have to keep Ukraine in the fight tonight and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,” Heappey said.
“(That means) continuing to give, day in and day out, and building our own supplies.”
The dire warnings come as cracks are emerging in the West’s support for Ukraine, 20 months after Russia invaded the country.
Last weekend, US politicians dropped a $6 billion aid package for Kiev as Congress passed a short-term funding bill that narrowly avoided a government shutdown.
Cracks are beginning to appear in the West’s support for Ukraine
Russia illegally invaded Ukraine twenty months ago
Top US officials appear to recognize the damage that could be done if the US does not provide enough aid to Ukraine. Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael McCord wrote in a letter to political leaders on Friday, shortly before Congress removed the relief package from the spending bill. :
“The inability to ensure timely purchases and deliveries could undermine vital Ukrainian operations to regain additional territory or defend against possible future Russian offensives.”
“Without additional funding now, we would have to delay or curtail aid to meet Ukraine’s urgent needs, including air defense and munitions that are now critical and urgent as Russia prepares for a winter offensive and continues its bombing of Ukrainian cities ‘, he said. added.
In addition, Robert Fico, a pro-Moscow populist, won early parliamentary elections in Slovakia, potentially putting another Putin ally at the helm of an EU country.
Fico, 59, has pledged to withdraw Slovakia’s military support from Ukraine in the Russian war if his bid to return to power is successful.
NATO warned that ammunition reserves were low, 20 months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Support for Ukraine from its international partners appeared to wane over the weekend
Top US officials appear to recognize the damage that could be done if the US does not provide sufficient aid to Ukraine
Last weekend, US politicians dropped a $6 billion aid package for Kiev
“People in Slovakia have bigger problems than Ukraine,” he said earlier.
Until now, the country of 5.5 million, created in 1993 after the breakup of Czechoslovakia, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia invaded last February, donating weapons and opening its borders to refugees fleeing the war.
Slovakia has sent its fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets, the S-300 air defense system, helicopters, armored vehicles and much-needed mine clearance equipment.
Meanwhile, the country has taken in 100,000 Ukrainian refugees – more per capita than any other country except Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic states.
British supporters of Ukraine’s war efforts have been forced to step up their lobbying efforts.
Former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace claimed he urged Rishi Sunak to increase military aid to Ukraine by more than £2 billion, a 50% increase.