NATO chief stresses need for 'quick' US Congress decision to support Ukraine

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – After months of waiting for US lawmakers to extend more aid, the NATO chief on Saturday stressed the need for a quick decision by the US Congress to support Ukraine.

Admitting that NATO allies the US and Europe must effectively share the burden, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the Munich Security Conference: "It's not for me to give advice on how to pass legislation to the US Congress. But what I can say is the vital and urgent need for US to decide on a package for Ukraine because we need that support. And we have burden-sharing between Europe, and Canada, and the United States. Now it's for the US to deliver what they promised."

Stoltenberg also stressed that the European allies plus Canada "have provided more support to Ukraine in total than the United States."

"This is not only about making the right decisions, but it's about making the right decision early, as quickly as possible, because it's urgent. Every week we wait means that there will be more people killed on the front line in Ukraine," he warned.

The alliance chief added that "NATO is the strongest military power in the world," representing roughly half of the "world's total military might."

"We are stronger than Russia," he said.

This week, after many false starts, the US Senate finally passed a bill containing security aid for Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has vowed to block any consideration of the measure, effectively killing it for now.

Also at the three-day gathering, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas that the focus should "not drift from helping Ukraine militarily," adding that the most important thing should be to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.

"If Putin wins in Ukraine, he won't stop there. He's a dictator. … There's no doubt that the Baltic states are going to be at risk or Poland if we don't stop him in Ukraine," US Senator Pete Ricketts remarked.

The tiny Baltic state of Estonia, population 1.3 million, sits on the border with Russia, population 143 million, and was a Soviet republic for over 50 years, until 1991.