NATO chief warns Ukraine is using an 'enormous' amount of munitions and firing them faster than alliance partners can make them

• NATO's chief said Ukraine is expending an "enormous" amount of munitions on the battlefield.
• Kyiv is firing these munitions faster than the US and its European partners can produce them, he said.

Ukrainian forces are using a massive amount of munitions to fight Russian troops on the battlefield, and the intense rate of fire is putting a strain on Western stockpiles and defense firms amid efforts to back Kyiv's war aims, the NATO chief warned on Monday.

Speaking ahead of a series of meetings with NATO defense ministers this week, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the military alliance plans to strengthen its deterrence and defense capacity in the face of Russian threats.

This involves long-term planning to increase NATO's defense-industrial capacity, he said, and replenishing various stockpiles of munitions that have been sent to Ukraine to help the country fend off the invasion.

"The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of munitions and depleting allied stockpiles. The current rate of Ukraine's ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production," Stoltenberg said. "This puts our defense industries under strain."

He noted that one example of this is how the waiting time for large-caliber ammunition has jumped from 12 to 28 months. The solution, he added, is to invest in the capacity to produce such weaponry and increase the production.

Ukraine's allies have provided tens of billions of dollars in weaponry and ammunition since Russian forces launched a full-scale assault on Ukraine nearly a year ago. Last spring, Pentagon officials said security assistance provided by the US — which has sent more military aid to Ukraine than any other country since February 2022 — was being delivered at unprecedented speeds.

But repeated arms shipments to Ukraine have put a strain on US stockpiles, sending the Pentagon searching for ways to beef up production of munitions and artillery. In doing so, Washington has even tried searching for solutions by looking into stockpiles from other non-European countries.

Among the nearly $30 billion in security assistance that the Biden administration has sent Kyiv since February 2022, the US has provided a heaping pile of munitions — including millions of artillery rounds, mortar rounds, and anti-tank weapons.

Aside from these efforts, other NATO members and partner countries in recent weeks have increasingly pledged to send advanced weaponry to Ukraine ahead of what officials have previously described as a looming Russian offensive. This includes commitments to send much-sought-after main battle tanks and other heavy armor.

Meanwhile, Stoltenberg said on Monday that the ongoing war — which has become a grinding and bloody campaign in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region — has turned into a "race of logistics."

"Key capabilities like ammunition, fuel, and spare parts must reach Ukraine before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield," he warned. "Speed will save lives."