NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg calls on Europe to ramp up arms production

NATO’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg called on Europe to increase its arms production to support Ukraine and prevent “potentially decades of confrontation” with Moscow, in an interview published by German media on February 10.

NATO's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg called on Europe to increase its arms production to support Ukraine and prevent "potentially decades of confrontation" with Moscow, in an interview published by German media on February 10.

Ahead of a key meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in Brussels and the second anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war, Jens Stoltenberg insisted that "we need to reconstitute and expand our industrial base faster, to increase deliveries to Ukraine and refill our own stocks."

"This means shifting from slow peacetime to high-tempo conflict production," he told the German daily Welt am Sonntag.

Mr. Stoltenberg's comments came amidst growing pleas for shells, ammunition and other military aide from Ukraine as it battles Russian forces into a third year.

Western leaders have also called for greater assistance. Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Joe Biden urged the U.S. lawmakers on February 9 to approve a long-delayed military aid package for Ukraine, warning that Kyiv could not hold off Russia's invasion without it.

"The failure of the United States' Congress in not supporting Ukraine is close to criminal neglect," Mr. Biden said as he hosted Scholz in the Oval Office on February 9.

Mr. Stoltenberg said: "There is no imminent military threat against any ally. At the same time, we hear regular threats from the Kremlin against NATO countries."