Ukraine’s allies prioritize ammunition and air defense over jets – FT

Western capitals will make fresh commitments to provide ammunition and air defense systems to Ukraine to bolster Kyiv's military on February 14 at the regular meeting of the western partners.

Financial Times reports, citing officials, that the new promises of military support come as Kyiv and NATO warned about the ammunition shortage, which the Ukrainian military is facing amid russia's full-scale invasion. At the same time, concern over the impact of strained defense supply chains and decreasing domestic stockpiles are growing in western capitals.

Officials told the Financial Times that these immediate needs outweigh long-term requests for materiel resources, such as fighter jets or rapid deliveries of Western battle tanks. They are taking into account russia's new offensive, which, according to NATO's statement on Monday, February 13, has already begun.

"What Ukraine tells us that they really need is ammunition and additional air defense capabilities," said a Western official.

The US representative said that fighter jets are less critical in the near term as Ukraine seeks to maintain an advantage.

"What we really have to concentrate on now is Ukraine's ability to defend the air, and they'll do that through air defense artillery, equipped with the proper ammunition. Fighter jets are not and will not be as capable against the russian air force as an integrated air defense system," the US official said, adding, "This war has proven to be an artillery duel using mass amounts of artillery ammunition on both sides. The international community will seek to continue to supply Ukraine with the artillery it needs to defend itself."

Air defense support is considered necessary due to concerns about the relatively undiminished capabilities of russia's air force. Western officials are worried that they could be deployed during moscow's spring offensive, which will come after months of russian retreats in the south and east of Ukraine.

According to the two officials, the meeting may also discuss the issue of concluding more direct contracts between Kyiv and Western defense companies with the mediation and financing of the NATO member countries. This would streamline the flow of supplies from the production line to the deployment site.

"The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of munitions and depleting allied stockpiles," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday. "The current rate of Ukraine's ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production."

On February 14, representatives of the defense departments of about 50 partner countries gathered at the NATO headquarters in Brussels for another meeting of the group.

The Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UCG) was formed after russia invaded Ukraine. As of June 15, 2022, it included the defense ministers of more than 50 countries headed by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. It gathered for the first time at the American Ramstein Air Base in Germany shortly after the start of the war.