2023-07-12 16:31:00
UK Defense Secretary says NATO is ‘having a hard time’ keeping ammunition flowing to Ukraine
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said NATO countries “are having a hard time finding a way” to keep ammunition supplies to Ukraine as the full-scale invasion of Russia continues following 500 days.
“Enormous amounts of ammunition are being fired and used,” he told a panel during the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Wallace told CNN on Wednesday that because of the shortage, he understands why the United States chose to supply Ukraine with the controversial cluster bombs in an attempt to fill the void. But he claimed that since the UK has adopted a ban on such munitions, it cannot promote their use in any way.
“On the one hand, I understand the military necessity that the Ukrainians were facing,” he said. “And the United States is not a signatory to that treaty, so it gives them freedom to do what they think is right.”
“They’re just finding ways around the challenge,” Wallace said. But, he added, “we signed the treaty, we feel we can’t advocate the use of (cluster bombs). We can’t propose them. We can’t promote them. We can’t support them. We can’t help them, and that’s what limits them.”
US President Joe Biden told CNN last week that the US is “running out of stock” of ammunition it can send to Ukraine, which is why Biden decided to send the cluster bombs. The cluster munitions supply is temporary, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said last week, until the United States can increase its production of unitary munitions.
Wallace said the broader issue of a stock problem is a serious concern because of the amount of supplies Ukraine has needed to carry out its counteroffensive.
“The supply of materiel to Ukraine has been huge, vast. I think they prepared 12 brigades for this offensive, two brigades is bigger than most people’s armies, right? 12 effectively armored brigades prepared for this counteroffensive, mainly with free material and donations,” he said.
“We have all had to fight to optimize our supply chains, some of which have been shut down,” he added.
Wallace also said that a specific big challenge they see with Ukraine is its ability to close the runways used by Russian planes. The long-range Storm Shadow missile the UK provided “is a deep-strike weapon, but it’s not designed to destroy airstrips,” he said, so the UK is trying to find ways to help Ukrainian troops to improve that ability.
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