According to Wijninga, it is very likely to rapidly increase the ammunition supply. “Some countries already have framework contracts in which fixed quantities of ammunition are ordered periodically and it is relatively easy to increase these quantities. We are also trying to strengthen the defense capability to be able to deal with these issues quickly.’
Increase budgets
Asked whether defense budgets will actually be increased, Wijninga says this has been visible since the start of the war. “The Dutch cabinet went to two percent. We are now seeing NATO-wide costs coming our way.’ According to Wijninga, continuing to support Ukraine costs a lot, as does strengthening the defense capacity after years of austerity.
NATO Response Force
However, in Brussels there is also talk of the creation of a NATO rapid reaction force, whose command rotates periodically among the member states and which can be deployed ‘at short notice’ where deemed necessary. So everything costs more money than expected, at least more than two percent.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier that the long-awaited Russian spring offensive has begun, according to Wijninga it seems so, even if it qualifies the image we have of an offensive. “Not all offensives are blitzkrieg with rapidly advancing tanks and armored personnel carriers.”
Foot attack
That the offensive does not give that impression has everything to do with the massive material losses Russia has suffered, according to Wijninga. Russia has lost a lot of tanks. Over the past year, some 1,000 Russian tanks have been destroyed, while Ukrainian forces have captured some 500. 650 Russian armored vehicles have also been disabled.
And this means that there is an attack on foot, that every meter is fought and that there are many casualties. “It doesn’t feel as dynamic as one might expect.” The Russians are trying to force breakthroughs at Bachmut, Luhansk and Vuledar, according to the defense expert ‘an offensive can be said to be underway’.
Not helpless
According to Wijninga, the fact that Ukraine continues to insist on supplying the West with fighter jets does not mean that Ukraine is defenseless. “They have hundreds of tanks, many Western long-range artillery systems like HIMARS and armored infantry. Many soldiers were trained in the West. They are by no means defenseless, the Ukrainians aim to stop this Russian offensive and buy time for a counter-offensive.’
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