Highlights: NATO and its partners have delivered almost all the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine in recent months. The U.S. will only deliver Abrams tanks by the fall, the Pentagon said in March. The time of the rise of industrial production lines in the West means that deliveries of new Caesar guns or new ammunition are delayed. It will sometimes be necessary to wait until June, or even September or even 2024 to have certain equipment. We must be sure that the Ukrainians will have all the means sufficient when they decide to launch their offensive.

NATO allies and their partners have provided Ukraine with 230 battle tanks and 1,550 armored vehicles to help it counter the Russian offensive and regain territory, announced Thursday...

NATO welcomes arms deliveries to Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a press conference in Kiev, April 20, 2023. © Efrem Lukatsky / AP

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

NATO allies and their partners have provided Ukraine with 230 battle tanks and 1,550 armored vehicles to help it counter the Russian offensive and retake territory, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Thursday (April 27th).

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NATO and its partners have delivered almost all the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine in recent months. "Allies and partners in the US-led contact group have sent 230 tanks, 1,550 armoured vehicles and significant quantities of ammunition, or 98 percent of the promised equipment, to Ukraine to equip nine new armored brigades," Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference.

All in all, Ukrainians have the capabilities they need to retake more territory. " said the head of the Atlantic Alliance. Since the start of the Russian offensive in February 2022, NATO members have also provided Soviet-made air defense systems, artillery and MIG-29 fighter jets held by Poland and the Czech Republic. They have also trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian servicemen on the weapons used by NATO armies.

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But despite this estimate of 98% of the promised equipment already delivered – difficult to confirm – some major weapons will not be deliverable or usable, including training, for many months. The U.S. will only deliver Abrams tanks by the fall, the Pentagon said in March. This should only take place in principle after the expected Ukrainian counter-offensive.

The time of the rise of industrial production lines in the West means that deliveries of new Caesar guns or new ammunition are delayed, observes General Jérôme Pellistrandi, editor-in-chief of the review National Defense, joined by RFI. It will sometimes be necessary to wait until June, or even September or even 2024 to have certain equipment. We must be sure that the Ukrainians will have all the means sufficient when they decide to launch their offensive. Western countries are not in a position to provide a second counter-offensive if the one in the coming weeks fails. It will have to get it right the first time.

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"We will stand with Ukraine"

Several Western analysts recall that many of the equipment delivered have only replaced old ones that have been destroyed in combat since the beginning of the war. They also believe that Ukraine is in great difficulty over its ammunition stocks, whose daily use exceeds the rhythms of deliveries and forces Kiev's units to a form of combat rationing.

Recently leaked classified documents from the US Department of Defense warn that Ukrainian air defense is almost out of missiles " wrote Mark Cancian, of the American think tank CSIS, on Tuesday, April 25. The medium-term outlook is delicate. Jens Stoltenberg has, in fact, called for "never underestimating" Russia. "Russian forces may lack quality, but they are catching up on quantity and Moscow continues to mobilize more personnel. We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes and we will provide it with what it needs," the NATO Secretary General promised.

Jen Stoltenberg recalled that "if we want a peaceful and negotiated solution that allows Ukraine to establish itself as a sovereign and independent nation, the best way to achieve this is to provide military support to Ukraine, just as NATO allies do.

NATO welcomes arms deliveries to Ukraine

NATO welcomes arms deliveries to Ukraine

"We will stand with Ukraine"

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