BRUSSELS, June 14, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - NATO Security General Jens Stoltenberg 
said Wednesday alliance members must ensure Ukraine keeps getting enough arms 
to pursue its counter-offensive against Russia, as Kyiv sustains losses in its 
long-awaited push. 
      
Kyiv's Western backers will meet Thursday at NATO headquarters in Brussels 
to get the latest update from Ukraine's defence minister on the progress of the 
assaults. 
      
"The most obvious thing is to ensure they have the weapons, the supplies, 
the maintenance to continue to conduct the offensive," Stoltenberg told 
journalists. 
     
 Stoltenberg said that there was always recognition that Ukraine would 
suffer losses as it seeks to breach heavily fortified Russian lines. 
      
"There will be casualties, also, when it comes to modern NATO equipment," 
he said. 
      
"No one expected there to be zero casualties. The realities of this is 
fierce, fierce fighting."
      
Stoltenberg reiterated that Ukraine's offensive was making advances, but 
said "it is still early days and we do not know if this will be a turning point 
of the war".
      
NATO allies, spearheaded by the United States, have already funnelled 
weaponry worth tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine to help it fight off 
Russia's forces since Moscow launched its war in February 2022. 
      
Those supplies have sapped western stockpiles and sent countries scrambling 
to try to refill their shelves as Ukraine has fired off thousands of shells a 
day. 
      
Stoltenberg said he expected NATO defence ministers at a subsequent meeting 
on Friday to agree to "substantially" ramp up the targets for the amount of 
ammunition each NATO member must have in stock. 
      
In addition, NATO is also looking to approve a "defence production action 
plan" at a summit next month in Lithuania's capital Vilnius to try to get 
Western defence industries to ratchet up output. 
     
 So far this year, Stoltenberg said, NATO countries have jointly ordered 
155-millimetre shells worth $1 billion. 
      
The weapons surge comes as the European Union -- which shares 22 members 
with NATO -- has also launched a plan to supply Ukraine with a million shells 
and bolster industry. 
     
 
Officials have been wary of duplicating efforts between the two 
organisations and further pressuring already overstretched manufacturers.