NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has urged allies to supply Kyiv with winter gear such as clothing, tents and generators to enable Ukrainian troops to keep on fighting Russia’s invasion in the cold season.
Average winter temperatures are below freezing for much of the country and it is not unusual for temperatures to drop to minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit).
“The winter is coming, it’s going to be hard, and therefore we need both to continue to supply weapons and ammunition but also winter clothing, tents, generators and all the specific equipment which is needed for the winter,” Stoltenberg told reporters after meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brussels.
“Partly because the size of the Ukrainian army has just increased so much, they need more of this kind of winter equipment, and NATO is particularly focused on how we can provide tens of thousands of, for instance, winter uniforms,” Stoltenberg added.
President Vladimir Putin has said in televised remarks that Russia would export 30 million tonnes of grain by the end of the year and that he is ready to increase this volume to 50 million tonnes.
VNG, one of Germany’s biggest importers of Russian natural gas, will get the state support that it has asked for, economy minister Robert Habeck said in Brussels.
“We are on a very, very good path and this will be resolved soon,” Habeck told reporters about talks with the German utility group following a meeting with his European Union counterparts.
The company had asked the German government for aid to stay afloat, the latest European energy firm to seek state support after Russian supply cuts.
