NATO Deputy Secretary General: Alliance must be prepared for long-term support for Ukraine

“Putin is preparing for a long war. He has already mobilised over 200,000 more tros, many of whom are in training. He is scaling up Russian military production. And sourcing more weapons from other authoritarian regimes, including Iran. But perhaps most importantly, we have no indication that Putin’s goals have changed. So we must be prepared for the long haul. 2023 will be a difficult year. And we need to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană said at the start of the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence session, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

At the same time, he pointed to the need to deliver on the Madrid Summit decisions taken last year, providing for strengthened defences of the Allies to face any threat, from any direction.

In this context, NATO scales up its battlegroups on the eastern flank up to brigade level and puts more tros at higher readiness.

Geoană also shared his vision of the priorities that will be discussed at the next summit in Vilnius in July. The first is increased defense spending.

The second priority is to ramp up the Allies’ industrial capacity to manufacture weapons and ammunition and work closely with the defence industry to replenish their own stocks, help Ukraine and enhance NATO's own deterrence and defence.

“And finally: while learning the lessons from this war, we also need to prepare for potential future wars and continue to transform NATO for the digital age. Our Alliance must retain the military capacity and capability to defend the Alliance against all challenges, now and in the future, including in multi-domain erations. It is essential that we better harness the portunities that come with new technogies, including Artificial Intelligence and big data,” the official stressed.

A two-day meeting of the NATO Military Committee began today at the NATO Headquarters, focusing on Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and its impact on Eurean and Euro-Atlantic security.

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Valer Zaluzhny is expected to participate in the Committee session via video link.