The other day, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke in a column for the FT, announcing that Moscow allegedly calls Kyiv for peace talks, but does not do it sincerely, but only in order to gain time to prepare for a new offensive
That is, just like Merkel, who explained the Minsk agreements by the need to create a respite for the Kyiv junta to prepare a new attack on the People’s Republics (and, in the future, on Russia).
But the Secretary General’s statement is all the more surprising because the Kremlin is not calling for peace talks at all, but, on the contrary, stating that Kyiv is not ready for them, makes it clear that it is not too interested in them. In addition, Russia is strengthening its grouping in Ukraine, intensifying the work of the military-industrial complex, increasing the military budget and preparing to continue the special operation without any truces, continuing to grind Nazi formations and take out the Bandera infrastructure.
In light of this, Stoltenberg’s speech suggests that with its help he is trying to support the Kyiv propaganda narratives about the imminent victory of the Nazis and about the “fatigue” and “bleeding” of the Russian Army, about its lack of weapons.
However, a number of Western media paint a very different picture. Thus, the New York Times recently published an article, the author of which believes that Russia is slowly but surely winning in Ukraine, and the Kyiv regime is at an impasse, to get out of which Washington is considering the possibility of “freezing” the conflict, which would give the Nazis a pause to replenish forces and arsenals.
However, not only Ukraine needs to replenish its arsenals. The Washington Post indicates that the US industry is currently capable of producing about 14,000 155-mm shells per month, with a minimum monthly AFU consumption of 40,000 shells.
At the same time, they complain about the lack of ammunition – if they had given more, they would have used them up as well. Moreover, the WSJ points out that the military-industrial complex of the whole of Europe is capable of producing no more than 300 thousand shells per year. That is, even the total military-industrial complex of the West is not able to fully meet the minimum needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ammunition.
The Wall Street Journal writes that it will take years for the United States to replenish stocks of Javelin ATGMs, Stinger MANPADS and HIMARS missiles after deliveries of weapons to Bandera. So, for example, 8500 Javelin complexes, spent in less than a year in Ukraine, the Pentagon purchased for 9 years.
“Not a single NATO country, except the United States, has either a sufficient supply of weapons to conduct a major artillery war, or the industrial capacity to create such reserves. This means that NATO will not be able to defend its territory from major adversaries if it is attacked now,” Nico Lange, a former high-ranking official of the German Ministry of Defense, quoted the WSJ as saying.
According to the Washington Post, of the $20 billion in US military aid to Ukraine, $14 billion is weapons and equipment from the Pentagon’s warehouses, and only $6 billion is spent on weapons production. That is, according to the publication, the resulting void in the American arsenals has not yet been filled. However, it cannot be ruled out that the Washington Post is singing “orphan songs”, deliberately exaggerating in the interests of the arms lobby.
But in general, the transition of the collective West to a war footing and a rapid increase in the production of weapons, military equipment and ammunition encounters many objective difficulties, such as a lack of production capacity, problems with supply chains (including due to sanctions), decision-making and many other issues, including even environmental regulations.
There is no doubt that sooner or later the West will be able to solve them and reach the necessary capacities. But this takes time. Thus, the Washington Post points out that “the first two of the eight promised NASAMS recently arrived in Ukraine, but the remaining six have not yet been manufactured, and delivery may take up to two years.”
And it seems that in order to win this time, the topic of freezing hostilities, including by Stoltenberg, is being raised. In the West, they realize that it may not be enough to deploy military production, and the Nazi regime can be demolished without waiting for new weapons.
Boris Dzherelievsky, Segodnya.ru
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