Atrocities spur NATO nations to send more weapons to Ukraine

BRUSSELS (AP):

Spurred into action by reports of atrocities in Ukraine, NATO countries agreed on Thursday to ramp up the supply of weapons to Kyiv, including high-tech arms, amid concerns that Russia is about to launch a large offensive in Ukrarine’s eastern Donbas region.

NATO, as an organisation, refuses to send troops or weapons to Ukraine or impose a no-fly zone over it to keep the trans-Atlantic military group from being drawn into a wider war with nuclear-armed Russia. Individual NATO countries, however, have provided anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, as well as equipment and medical supplies.

“There was a clear message from the meeting today that allies should do more, and are ready to do more, to provide more equipment, and they realise and recognise the urgency,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after chairing a meeting of allied foreign ministers in Brussels.

Stoltenberg declined to say which countries were stepping up supplies or what kinds of equipment they might send, but he said: “Rest assured, allies are providing a wide range of different weapons systems, both Soviet-era systems but also modern equipment.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the “sickening images and accounts coming out of Bucha and other parts of Ukraine” have strengthened the West’s resolve to punish Russia and step up support for Ukraine.

Blinken said the United States is “looking across the board right now not only at what we provided, and what we continue to provide, but whether there are additional systems that could make a difference”.

One of the drawbacks of sending modern arms is that Ukrainian troops would have to learn how to to use them, but some NATO nations raised the possibility of providing training outside of the war-ravaged country.

Britain was also outspoken about its intentions.

“We’ve agreed to step up support for Ukraine, and we’ve also recognised that the conflict has entered a new and different phase with a more concentrated Russian offensive,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.