NATO says allies boosting military, financial support to Ukraine

ANKARA

NATO member countries are boosting their military and financial support to Ukraine, which is fighting a Russian military intervention, the alliance said on Sunday.

"Thousands of anti-tank weapons, hundreds of air-defence missiles and thousands of small arms and ammunition stocks are being sent to Ukraine," NATO said in a statement.

Members are also providing millions of euros worth of financial and humanitarian aid to Ukrainian forces, it added.

The statement said Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the UK and US have already sent or are on the stage of approval to send significant numbers of military equipment to Ukraine.

"Ukraine has already received critical weapons, including Javelin missiles and anti-aircraft missiles, from NATO Allies, as well as millions of euros of financial assistance," it said.

Listing the countries offering humanitarian aid or opening borders to Ukrainian refugees, the readout said “Croatia, Poland and Romania are already welcoming Ukrainian refugees.”

"Italy is also providing immediate financial assistance to the Ukrainian government, and Turkey has deepened its defence ties with Ukraine and delivered humanitarian aid," it went on to say.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine on Thursday, days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine. He claimed that Moscow had no plan to occupy its neighbor, but wanted to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.

At least 368,000 Ukrainians have fled the country since then, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

Western powers have imposed financial sanctions on Moscow, and the EU has decided to fund arm supplies to Ukraine, close its airspace to Russian airlines, and ban Russian state media.