Jens Stoltenberg, surprise visit to Kiev: I will be very honest, I did not deliver what I promised. Things will change from now on

NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg told Ukrainians on Monday that alliance members had not followed through on military aid promises in recent months, but added that the flow of arms and ammunition would increase from now on, Reuters reports.

In an unannounced visit to Ukraine, the secretary general of the transatlantic military alliance held talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and will address the Ukrainian parliament, the Rada.

His visit – the third since the full-scale Russian invasion that began in February 2022 – comes at a difficult time on the battlefield for Ukraine. After a failed Ukrainian counter-offensive last year, Russian forces seized the initiative – at least in part because of a lack of weapons and ammunition delivered by Western partners to Kiev.

Stoltenberg: “I will be very honest, I did not deliver what I promised”

“I will also be very honest with President Zelenskiy and also with the Rada that the NATO allies have not delivered what we have promised in recent months,” Stoltenberg said on the train to Kiev on Monday.

“The United States waited six months to agree on a package, and the European allies did not deliver the ammunition that we promised. But now I am confident that things will change,” he said.

Stoltenberg mentioned that the United States recently approved an aid package for Ukraine worth more than 60 billion dollars, but also the announcement made last week by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak regarding a “record” commitment to Kiev.

He also noted that Germany has agreed to supply Ukraine with a new Patriot air defense system, and the Netherlands has increased its aid to Kiev. He said he expected more “new engagements to follow”.

“It’s not too late for Ukraine to win”

“This will make a difference – just as the lack of support made a difference,” he said, alluding to Ukrainian failures on the battlefield.

He said the Russians had paid “a high price for marginal territorial gains” and that Ukraine could still turn things around.

“It is not too late for Ukraine to win. But that is why it is so urgent that NATO allies now do what we have promised and turn these commitments into real arms and ammunition deliveries, and I am confident that this will happen now.”

For his part, Zelenskiy said that progress has been made on the delivery of missiles for the Patriot air defense systems, but the issue of the launch systems is still being worked on.

He stated that Russia is trying to take advantage of the duration of arms deliveries to Ukraine, adding that the situation on the battlefield directly depends on the speed of ammunition supply.