NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said on Wednesday that members of the alliance should increase the production of military equipment and ammunition to help Ukraine and boost their own defense and deterrence capabilities
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2023) NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said on Wednesday that members of the alliance should increase the production of military equipment and ammunition to help Ukraine and boost their own defense and deterrence capabilities.
"We need to ramp up our industrial capacity to manufacture weapons and ammunition, and work closely with the defense industry to replenish our own stocks. It matters for Ukraine and for our own deterrence and defense," Geoana said in opening remarks at the NATO Military Committee in Brussels.
According to the NATO official, the countries should invest more in defense and view the target of 2% of GDP as a "floor, not a ceiling."
Western countries have ramped up their military support for Kiev since the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. In April, Moscow sent a note to NATO member states condemning their military assistance to Kiev. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any arms shipments on Ukrainian territory would be "legitimate targets" for Russian armed forces. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in turn, stated that arms provision was undermining prospects for a future peace process.
