NATO Members To Flood Ukraine With Weapons, Stoltenberg Says

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance was deploying parts of its combat-ready response force and would continue to send weapons to Ukraine, including air defenses, while saying that Russia was trying to topple the Ukrainian government, Robin Emmott and Benoit Van Overstraeten reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

"We see rhetoric, the messages, which is strongly indicating that the aim is to remove the democratically elected government in Kyiv," he told a news conference following a virtual meeting of NATO leaders. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the Ukraine military to stage a coup and kick out Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy.

Some of the 30 NATO allies announced the type of weapons that they would supply Ukraine, including air defenses, he said, without giving details. "Allies are very committed to continue to provide support," he said.

Stoltenberg added that NATO was deploying elements of its rapid response force, which is made up of land, air, maritime and special operations forces, on allied territory.

"We are now deploying the NATO response force for the first time in the context of collective defense," he said. Separately, Germany announced it would be deploying a company of troops to Slovakia where the soldiers will build part of a new NATO battle group to be established.

"We are working on quickly sending a company to Slovakia," German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht told German public TV ZDF after talks with her Slovak counterpart. Between 150 and 200 troops comprise a company.

Germany will also send a Patriot missile defense battery to NATO's eastern flank, together with some 300 troops to operate it. It was not immediately clear where exactly the system would go.

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