Russia poses growing military threat to NATO members, Italy says
ROME (Reuters) -Russia could have the ability to pose a military threat to NATO territory within five years, Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said on Thursday.
He was addressing lawmakers on the outcome of a NATO summit last week when the military alliance agreed to increase spending on defence and security.
“Allies shared concerns about the growing threat from Russia. There are no signs of conversion of Russian production to civilian purposes, not even in the event of a ceasefire,” he said.
Crosetto also said Russian domestic support for the war in Ukraine, begun in 2022, apparently was intact.
Without saying where the figures came from, he said Russia has lost more than a million soldiers, including 200,000 in the first six months of this year.
“Yet Russia managed to mobilise another 300,000 in six months without any erosion of domestic consensus,” he said.
Referring to the targets set last week by NATO members to increase defence and security spending as a percentage of GDP, Crosetto said Italy had already made some provisions in the budget and would not divert resources from health or pensions, confirming a Reuters report.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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Ukraine has not received any official notifications about the halt or revision of the delivery schedules for agreed defense aid from the United States, informs the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
“The Ukrainian side has taken note of reports regarding delays in the delivery of certain components of previously allocated defense aid packages from the United States and is clarifying the current factual circumstances of these deliveries,” the Ministry of Defense said.
It was stated that Ukraine has not received any official messages regarding the halt or revision of the agreed-upon defense aid delivery schedules. Therefore, the ministry is relying on actual data and is verifying the details of each delivery item.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has requested a phone call with colleagues in the United States to clarify the details further. The results of these contacts with American partners will be communicated additionally at the level of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
“Certain individuals in Ukraine who are currently making public comments on this situation do not, for objective reasons, have all the factual information. We ask the public to pay attention to official and verified information from reliable sources,” the ministry added.
The defense ministry also emphasized that it is critically important for Ukraine to maintain resilience, continuity, and predictability in the provision of agreed defense assistance, primarily in strengthening air defense systems.
“We are grateful to the United States for all their support and highly appreciate the efforts of our American partners aimed at achieving genuine peace. We stress that the path to ending the war lies through consistent and joint pressure on the aggressor, as well as through sustained support for Ukraine,” the Ministry of Defense added.
US announces halt in missile and ammunition deliveries to Ukraine’s air defense
The first report about the Pentagon halting some deliveries of precision munitions to Ukraine, including air defense missiles, came from the authoritative outlet Politico, citing sources.
The outlet states that this decision was made by Elbridge Colby, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, after reviewing existing stockpiles. The reason for the halt reportedly stems from concerns about the US arms reserves.
Meanwhile, the White House has already confirmed the halt of some weapon shipments to Ukraine. American media, citing White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly, report that Washington has indeed halted the transfer of several types of weapons to Ukraine, including missiles for air defense systems and precision munitions.
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