NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is scheduled to make a new appeal to member states on Thursday to provide more support to Ukraine. He stressed that Norway is on the list of countries that will reach the 2 percent goal in 2024.
– Ukrainians never run out of courage. But they are running out of ammunition, NATO's Secretary General said when he presented the alliance's 2023 annual report in Brussels.
When asked who is responsible for the ammunition shortage in Ukraine, the answer was crystal clear:
– NATO countries do not provide Ukraine with sufficient ammunition. It has consequences on the battlefield every day. This is also why Russia has been making progress on the battlefield in recent months, Stoltenberg said.
NATO countries account for 99% of their military support to Ukraine. But recently the political majority in the US National Assembly has been unable to agree on a new support package.
This worries Stoltenberg:
– Now we must show the political will to do more. Stoltenberg said
– Everyone should dig deeper into their pockets. This is a critical moment. He added that it would be a historic mistake to allow Putin to win.
Two-thirds in goal
At the press conference at NATO headquarters, Stoltenberg confirmed that Norway has now introduced a new target to reach the alliance's target of 2 percent of GDP by 2024.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Sture (Ap) made the announcement in Parliament just an hour and a half before Stoltenberg's press conference in Brussels.
This year, two-thirds of member states will achieve this goal, Stoltenberg said.
In February, there were 18 countries on this list. Sweden has since become a member and confirmed it will meet the 2% target this year. According to VG information, France has also joined the 2% club.
And now Norway:
Stoltenberg said: – I expect that the number of countries above 2% will continue to grow until our summit in Washington in July.
Today, Norway announced that it will reach two percent this year. He said this was a new example of member states investing more in defence, and announced that an updated list would come in July.
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