By Steven Erlanger
With Russia bearing down on a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine, NATO defense ministers promised continued military support to Kyiv, whose forces are expending ammunition faster than allies can produce it.
As Russia continues to make grinding gains — particularly around the fiercely contested eastern city of Bakhmut — and the war nears its anniversary, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Western nations were focusing on Kyiv’s “most pressing needs,” including tactical training that could reduce Ukraine’s dependence on artillery fire.
“They have used a lot of artillery ammunition,” he said after meeting with fellow NATO defense officials and the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a larger group of nations that has pledged military and financial support to Kyiv. “We’re going to do everything we can working with our international partners to ensure that we give them as much ammunition as quickly as possible.”
At the same time, Austin said, allies were working with Ukrainian soldiers to emphasize training on maneuvers and “shaping the battlefield,” which could help ease their consumption of ammunition.
“There’s a good chance that they’ll require less artillery munitions,” he said, “but that’s left to be seen.”
Ukrainian officials have said that they are in dire need of NATO-caliber artillery shells to work with allied-supplied heavy guns, as well as more Soviet-caliber ammunition for the T-72 tanks they already possess in large numbers.
Before the meeting, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the war “is consuming an enormous amount of munitions and depleting allied stockpiles” and that allies would discuss how to expand production to support Ukraine and replenish their own arsenals.
“The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production,” he said. “This puts our defense industries under strain.”
While NATO countries try to ramp up manufacturing, waiting times to secure new large-caliber ammunition have grown from 12 months to 28 months, even if contracts are signed immediately, Stoltenberg said.
The Pentagon is already racing to increase production of artillery shells by 500% within two years, pushing conventional ammunition production to levels not seen since the Korean War.
Ukrainian and Russian troops are firing thousands of howitzer rounds at each other every day, U.S. officials say, along a front line more than 600 miles long in the east and south of the country.
Austin said that the dozens of Western nations taking part in a series of meetings Tuesday were making clear their continued backing of Ukraine’s defense.