As it makes “enormous” progress on the front in the east and south, Ukraine urgently needs air defenses, including ammunition, spare parts and maintenance for systems that the Ukrainian military already has, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. .

“There is an urgent need for air defense, not only for new systems, but also for ammunition, maintenance, and spare parts. We see that air defense saves lives in Ukraine every day, and we must support Ukraine’s air defense systems,” the NATO Secretary General said, News.ro notes.

He made the remarks after a senior State Department official said earlier Tuesday that strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses is important, particularly to protect critical infrastructure as winter approaches.

Stoltenberg declined to say how much ammunition NATO allies might supply to Ukraine each year or when the F-16s would be delivered to Kyiv.

“Allies are working hard to train them (F-16 pilots) as soon as possible,” he said. .

“We are ready for a long-term mission. Not because we can predict exactly how long this war will last, but because we need to send a message that President Putin cannot wait for us,” Stoltenberg said.

The head of NATO also said that he would prefer to see faster progress in Ukraine’s counteroffensive, but noted that its progress in the south and east is still “enormous”.

Ukrainian officials said their forces had moved past Russia’s first line of defense but were now facing other lines in places where Moscow had managed to build fortifications and minefields.

Some military analysts said Ukraine may struggle to maintain its pace on the battlefield as cold and wet weather sets in, but Stoltenberg said fighting could continue into the fall and winter.

“What we must continue to do is support the Ukrainians, and then they must make decisions on the ground,” he said. “The war of attrition is becoming a war of logistics,” he concluded.