Ukraine’s allies in the West are considering ramping up their supply of arms to Ukraine as the war moves into its first year in the coming days. The consideration comes amidst Russian attacks in the contested town of Bakhmut.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in Washington that Russian forces have made incremental gains in their assault of Bakhmut. However, Kirby noted that it was unclear whether the contested city would be completely captured. US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said he expects Ukraine to launch its own offensive in the spring and that Ukraine’s allies are working to make sure they have the firepower, logistics, and armor to effectively do so.
“Ukraine has urgent requirements to help it meet its crucial moment in the course of the war. We believe there’ll be a window of opportunity for them to exercise initiative,” Austin told a meeting of defense ministers of the NATO alliance and other countries to discuss more aid. “The Kremlin is still betting it can wait us out, but one year on we are as united as ever. That shared resolve will help sustain Ukraine’s momentum in the crucial weeks ahead.”
Ukraine was able to secure pledges from the West of modern battle tanks, and officials in Kyiv are now seeking to obtain modern fighter jets from allies to deter any potential Russian offensive.
Prior to the meeting, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said there were no indications that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was preparing for peace. Stoltenberg told reporters that Putin was preparing for more military conflict ahead.
British defense secretary Ben Wallace said on Wednesday that the United Kingdom is training Ukrainian soldiers to fight in a more “Western way” including using less ammunition than the traditional Soviet manner of fighting.
“Ukraine uses huge amounts of ammunition to defend itself, partly that’s why we’re training them to fight in a Western way,” Wallace told Times Radio. Wallace said the UK has been buying and trading Soviet-standard ammunition while helping the Ukrainian military convert to unlock “access to our ammunition stocks.”
“At the same time we’re training to make sure it’s used in a way that’s very productive and accurate,” Wallace continued. “The Russian or the Soviet way of fighting is very ammunition heavy, massive artillery barrages, and that’s never how we organized ourselves to fight in NATO.”