NATO warns ammunition aid to Ukraine 'about to hit rock bottom'

The news came Tuesday as additional military aid to Ukraine was not included in a temporary spending bill passed by the US Congress last week to avoid a government shutdown.

New concerns about the future of US aid arose on October 3 when US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, an official who called for support for Ukraine, was ousted from his leadership role by his Republican colleagues.

This is causing much concern for Ukraine, as the conflict enters its 20th month and questions begin to emerge about Moscow's ability to confidently outlast the aid promises that Western countries have made to Ukraine.

“We can already see that we are about to hit rock bottom,” Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of the NATO Military Committee and NATO’s most senior military official, said of the West’s remaining ammunition stockpiles during a panel discussion at the Warsaw Defense Forum on Tuesday.

Photo: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Serhii Nuzhnenko/Reuters.

“We are seeing the bottom of the barrel,” he said. “We have donated many weapons systems and ammunition to Ukraine, but not from a full stockpile, but from half-empty or much-empty stocks in Europe. Now the military equipment is running out.”

Also at this forum, Mr. James Heappey, British Minister of Defense and Armed Forces, said that although ammunition reserves may be depleted, aid packages for Ukraine still need to be implemented and Western countries need to increase production to keep up with this demand.

“We need to help Ukraine stay in the conflict today, tomorrow and the days after that.” This means “we need to continue to deliver aid, day in and day out, and to produce additional supplies of our own.”

At the same time, analysts warn that America's "arsenal of democracy" needs to be fully utilized, or else Ukraine's war effort will run into trouble.

“The United States and its allies are sending a variety of munitions to Ukraine, but they are not being produced and delivered as quickly as needed,” Thomas Warrick, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote last week.

Photo: Oleksandr Ratushniak/Reuters.

“Without additional funding, we will be forced to delay or reduce critical assistance to Ukraine, including air defense systems and critical munitions, as Russia prepares to launch a major offensive this coming winter,” said US Deputy Defense Secretary Michael McCord.

The total value of US aid packages to Ukraine since the conflict began has reached a whopping $46.6 billion as of July 31, 2023. NATO allies have also provided billions of dollars in aid.

Military leaders also acknowledge that ammunition is being used up too quickly on the battlefield.

A US Department of Defense official further revealed that Ukrainian soldiers fire about 2,000 to 3,000 self-propelled artillery rounds per day.

In July, the Pentagon said it had provided a total of 2 million rounds of self-propelled artillery shells to Ukraine.

Furthermore, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin added: “This is a conflict in which both sides have used self-propelled artillery extensively. We have seen a large amount of artillery shells fired from both sides, and that reality has put a strain on the international ammunition supply.”

At the same time, the amount of NATO 155mm artillery shells that Washington provided to Ukraine was so low that the US government decided to provide Ukraine with controversial cluster bombs.

Nguyen Quang Minh (according to CNN)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/nato-canh-bao-luong-dan-duoc-vien-tro-cho-ukraine-sap-cham-day-a629617.html