Key Points From Stoltenberg’s Press Conference in Kyiv

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made an unannounced visit to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, meeting with President Zelenskyy and addressing parliament.

His trip comes amidst a challenging time for Ukraine’s military. While Russia has gained the upper hand, Stoltenberg acknowledged delays in promised weapon deliveries from NATO allies.

“I will also be very honest with President Zelenskyy and also with the Rada that NATO allies have not delivered what we have promised over the last months,” Stoltenberg said. “The United States spent six months to agree a package and European allies have not delivered the ammunition we promised. But now I’m confident that things will change,” he added.

Stoltenberg highlighted the recent approval by the US Congress of a Ukraine aid package exceeding $60 billion, promptly endorsed by President Joe Biden, along with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement last week of a significant commitment to Kyiv, described as a “record high.” Additionally, Germany pledged a Patriot air defense system, and the Netherlands boosting its support.

“This will make a difference — as the lack of support made a difference,” Stoltenberg said, acknowledging the impact of earlier delays on Ukraine’s battlefield struggles.

Despite Russian advances, Stoltenberg believes Ukraine can still prevail. “It’s crucial that NATO allies deliver on our promises now,” he emphasized. “We need to turn commitments into real deliveries of weapons and ammunition. I’m confident this will happen.”

President Zelenskyy has stated that he and Jens Stoltenberg discussed the NATO Secretary General's idea of creating a special NATO fund for supporting Ukraine in the amount of 100 billion euros for a period of 5 years during their meeting in Kyiv.

"Our allies do have the opportunity to implement such an initiative. The details are very important to us. It is important that this is not at the expense of the bilateral volumes that are marked by our security guarantees agreements," Zelenskyy noted.

Previously, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has proposed to create a fund of allied contributions in the amount of 100 billion dollars over 5 years for Ukraine as part of a package that the leaders of the Alliance member countries are to sign at the summit in Washington.

Regarding the issue of missiles for existing air defense systems, President Zelenskyy noted that "positive developments are expected" and that after the last meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council, there were assurances that there would be no pauses in this process.

"We are working on additional Patriot systems. There is no strong specifics that we expect from our partners yet. There are first steps," the President said.