Stoltenberg reiterates that the priority is to send tanks to Ukraine and that fighters are "not an urgent issue"

The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, insisted on Tuesday that the priority right now for the allies that support Ukraine militarily is to send the tanks and ammunition committed, noting that at this moment the fighters are not an "issue urgent".

Before the meeting at the NATO headquarters of the Ramstein group, the military coalition of more than 40 countries supporting Ukraine under the leadership of the United States, in which the countries are expected to finalize the supply of tanks to Kiev, Stoltenberg has stressed that the priority is to deliver the equipment committed by the allies such as armored vehicles and tanks, insisting that the need to provide the Ukrainian Army with ammunition and training in the new systems is also on the table.

Together with the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksi Reznikov, the allies will discuss the promised deployment of tanks at the end of January, a coalition of which Spain is a part, although its contribution remains pending confirmation while Defense carries out technical reviews of half a dozen tanks.

More skeptical has been the possibility of handing over fighter jets to the Ukrainian army, the main demand made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his European tour last week in London, Paris and Brussels. "The issue of combat aircraft is not the most urgent issue, but it is an ongoing discussion and we have consultations between allies about the type of systems that must be provided to Ukraine," he said when asked about this issue.

Stoltenberg has not closed the door on this option, indicating that there are consultations about the possible supply of this type of heavy weapons and that the military aid of the allies to Ukraine "has evolved and will continue to do so as the war progresses."

"It is important to discuss systems, but it is important to ensure that the systems sent work, that they have the components they need, logistics and ammunition," the former Norwegian prime minister explained.

Upon arrival at the ministerial meeting, the issue of combat aircraft has focused questions on several allied defense officials, including the Netherlands, Kajsa Ollongren, who has confirmed that Ukraine has requested F16 from the Dutch authorities.

"It is something that we study very seriously. It is a complex system and we also have to discuss it with the United States and think about its feasibility, it is something that will take time," he pointed out, insisting that the issue must be discussed "closed doors" and take into account Mind all the repercussions of equipping these fighter jets to Ukraine.

Ollongren has indicated that the Ukrainians themselves know that the supply of fighters "will take time", while the tanks that the allies are committing will be on the battlefield "for the next few months". "The fighting is intensifying and our support has to be intensified," he defended, insisting that the allies do not escalate the conflict and only respond to the escalation posed by the Russian Army.

His Canadian colleague, Anita Anand, has assured that the country is putting four Leopard tanks on the table and has defended giving all kinds of help that the Ukrainian Army needs to face the Russian offensive in the Donbas region. "We hope that the role we play will inspire other countries to follow suit," she has said of sending tanks.

Faced with criticism for the lack of progress in the supply of tanks, Anand has defended that the coalition that sends tanks to Kiev continues to discuss support and his response "is not a belated reaction."

For his part, the Estonian Defense Minister, Hanno Pevkur, has insisted that "any type of help is necessary" for Ukraine to fight Russian troops, thus leaving the door open to fighter jets, recalling that in previous debates on military material "first there were questions and ended up giving answers".