NATO allies doing too little as Ukraine runs out of ammunition, Stoltenberg says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Ukrainian soldiers of the Paratroopers' of 80th brigade take cover as they fire a mortar shell at a frontline position near Bakhmut, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Ukraine is running out of ammunition in its war against Russia's invasion and NATO members are not doing enough to help Kyiv, the alliance's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.

In unusually blunt comments about the state of the war, Stoltenberg said NATO allies had the capacity to provide more to Ukraine but needed to show the political will to do so.

"Unprecedented aid from NATO allies has helped Ukraine survive as an independent nation. But Ukraine needs even more support and they need it now," Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

"The Ukrainians are not running out of courage, they are running out of ammunition."

More than two years after Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's military has recently been grappling with significantly reduced weapons supplies from the West.

"NATO allies are not providing Ukraine with enough ammunition and that has consequences on the battlefield every day," Stoltenberg said. "It is one of the reasons why the Russians have been able to make some advance on the battlefield over the last weeks and months.

"It is an urgent need for allies to make the decisions necessary to step and provide more ammunition to Ukraine. That's my message to all capitals," Stoltenberg said.

"We have the capacity, the economies, to be able to provide Ukraine what they need. This is a question of political will. To take the decisions and to prioritize support for Ukraine."

He added that any attempt to organise Russian elections in occupied regions of Ukraine would be illegal.



(Reporting by Andrew Gray and Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Inti Landauro and Alex Richardson)