NATO to Work With Arms Manufacturers to Increase Production, Stoltenberg Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - NATO intends to engage more actively with arms developers to boost the production of weapons amid hostilities in Ukraine, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.

"I expect that the ministers will agree to review our guidelines for stocks and also to engage more with industry. … the NATO defense planning process, we have the capability targets we have the work on standardization, on interpretability, all of these are unique NATO tools that enable us to engage with the industry and provide the industry the long-term demand they need to invest more in production capacity, so they can produce more weapons, more ammunition. All those capabilities we need both to ensure our own deterrence and deface but also to continue and support Ukraine," Stoltenberg said before the meeting of NATO defense ministers.

NATO countries have been supplying weapons to Kiev amid the Russian special operation in Ukraine while claiming that the alliance is not a side in the conflict.

Moscow has repeatedly warned western countries that by assisting Ukraine, they lead to further escalation, causing more casualties, since the Ukrainian forces use arms to target civilian infrastructure.