Kremlin Says NATO Is Increasingly Involved in Ukraine Conflict

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. (Wikimedia Commons/Yellowmen

JAKARTA - The Kremlin said on Tuesday the United States-led NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) military alliance is demonstrating its hostility towards Russia every day, and is increasingly embroiled in the conflict in Ukraine.

"NATO is an organization which is hostile to us and which proves this enmity every day," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"They are trying their best to make their involvement in the conflict around Ukraine as clear as possible," Peskov added.

As previously announced, Ukraine urgently needs more military assistance, the United States and NATO said on Tuesday, vowing Western support would not falter in the face of a new Russian offensive, a year ahead of the invasion that began in February last year.

Western defense ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss new weapons provisions to Kyiv, which call for greater firepower, and the maintenance of existing supplies including bullets whose production has barely kept pace with the war.

"Ukraine has urgent requirements to help it meet this important moment in the course of the war," US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a meeting called by the group of Ramstein allies.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia was in a hurry to achieve as many strikes as possible, before Kyiv and its allies could muster up.

"That's why speed is so important. Speed ​​in everything - adopting decisions, implementing decisions, delivering supplies, training. Speed ​​saves people's lives, speed restores security," he said in a nightly video address.

Not much different, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gave the same message about the invasion of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We are not seeing any signs that President Putin is preparing for peace. What we are seeing is instead, he is preparing for more wars, for new attacks, and for new attacks," Stoltenberg explained.

It is known, NATO defense ministers met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov after a meeting of the Ramstein group.

Moscow says arms supply to Ukraine by NATO countries is dragging out the conflict and raising the possibility of further escalation.

Meanwhile, Kyiv and the West say the delivery of advanced military hardware is crucial in helping Ukraine defend itself from Russian attacks.