Russia lacks in quality of its troops and is trying to compensate for it in quantity, the current rate of ammunition consumption by the Ukrainian army is higher than the current rate of production, thus it is necessary to ramp up production, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said.

"I think the reality that we're seeing the start already, because we're seeing what Russia is just now, what President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin do now, is sending thousands and thousands of more troops, accepting a very high rate of casualty, taking big losses, but putting pressure on the Ukrainians. And what Russia lacks in quality, they try to compensate in quantity […] they have more forces. […] So for me, this just highlights the importance of timing. It's urgent to provide Ukraine with more weapons. The faster we can deliver weapons, ammunition, spare parts, fuel to the Ukrainian front the more lives we save, and the better we support efforts to find a peaceful, negotiated solution to this conflict," he told a press conference in Brussels on Monday.

Stoltenberg also said that 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. This puts our defense industries under strain. For example, the waiting time for large-caliber ammunition has increased from 12 to 28 months. Orders placed today would only be delivered two-and-a-half years later. So we need to ramp up production. And invest in our production capacity," he said.

According to the Secretary General, NATO has just completed an extraordinary survey of its munitions stockpiles, and it plans to increase its targets for munitions stockpiles through the NATO Defense Planning Process.

"We need to produce more, to be able to deliver sufficient ammunition to Ukraine, but at the same time, ensure that we have enough ammunition to protect and defend all NATO Allies, every inch of Allied territory. […] And it just shows the importance of increased defense spending," Stoltenberg said.

He also said that "we see no sign whatsoever that President Putin is preparing for peace, or ready to negotiate something, which will respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine."

"What we see is that President Putin and Russia still want to control Ukraine. And therefore, the only way to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign nation is to continue to provide military support to Ukraine. I'm not speculating what Russia will or President Putin will do on the 24th [of February]. But more importantly, is that we see how they are sending in more troops, more weapons, more capabilities, to try to pressure the Ukrainians. And we see also how Ukrainians are able to resist and stand up against the Russian aggression," NATO Secretary General said.