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NATO member states are providing unprecedented support to Ukraine, and they will continue to do so by delivering air defense systems and by helping Ukraine rebuild its gas and power infrastructure, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday in a doorstep statement ahead of the NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting hosted by the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest.
"What we have seen since President Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine is that President Putin is failing in Ukraine. He is responding with more brutality, attacking gas infrastructure, power lines, and trying to deprive the Ukrainians of water, electricity, lights and heating. Therefore, we need to support Ukraine because what we see is that President Putin is trying to use winter as a weapon of war, which is inflicting a lot of suffering on the Ukrainian people," Stoltenberg said.
He specified that NATO and its member countries have already provided essential supplies to limit the effects of Russian attacks on Ukraine's power and gas infrastructure.
"We need to realize that the Ukrainians are able to shoot down many of the incoming missiles and drones, but not all of them, therefore these attacks have caused significant damage to the infrastructure," the NATO top official added.
According to him, NATO has already adopted important decisions to strengthen its eastern flank, including in Romania, but also in the Black Sea region.
After the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, we doubled the number of battle groups (from 4 to 8), including the one here in Romania, led by France. We have increased our presence on the ground, we have an increased presence in the air, we just conducted a big air defense exercise in Romania, with Spanish and Turkish troops, American jets, but also with French jets flying out from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier. At this moment we are partly increasing our military presence and partly we are stepping up our pre-positioned equipment and supplies, as well as increasing the readiness of our forces for quick action or for strengthening our presence where needed, such as the Black Sea region, NATO's Secretary General said. AGERPRES
