US: NATO countries unable to produce ammunition at the pace required for future needs

Moscow (ANTARA) — NATO member states are currently not ready to produce ammunition at the speed that will be required in the future, said United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday. “Clearly for the world, for all of us in the alliance and outside the alliance, that at present we are not able to produce ammunition at the level needed for future needs. This is something that must be addressed, something we can work on together. This is something we want to work on together,” Rubio said at a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Sweden. Rubio said ministers met to lay the groundwork for what he described as “one of the most important leader summits in NATO history,” scheduled to take place in July in Ankara. He also said that US President Donald Trump was frustrated with the response of several NATO allies to US military operations in the Middle East. “All of that has been well documented. It must be discussed. It will not be resolved immediately. It will be discussed today, and it is something that needs to be discussed at the leader level,” Rubio said. On 1 April, Trump said he was seriously considering withdrawing the United States from NATO after allies refused to join in the US-Israel war against Iran. He stated he no longer sees Europe as a reliable defence partner after European countries refused his plea to send warships to that strategic sea lane. On 9 April, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said a number of alliance members were “somewhat slow” in supporting the US campaign against Iran because they had not been forewarned by Trump. However, Rutte added that almost all allies have now provided the support Washington has requested. Source: Sputnik/RIA Novosti Translator: Kuntum Khaira Riswan