“So, what we have seen over the last weeks is horrific attacks against Ukrainian cities, critical infrastructure and also residential areas. And what we see is that President Putin is trying to destroy the power system, the gas infrastructure, and basic services for the Ukrainian people,” Stoltenberg told reports in a news conference in Bucharest.

Stoltenberg went on to say: “And by doing that, when we enter winter, demonstrates that President Putin is now trying to use a weapon or use the winter as a weapon of war against Ukraine. And this is horrific, and we need to be prepared for more attacks.”

“That's the reason why NATO Allies have stepped up their support to Ukraine. Also with additional air defense systems, Allies are providing advanced air defense systems and different systems that can both address the threats that are represented by the different types of drones but also cruise and ballistic missiles and I expect that one of the messages from the Foreign Ministerial meeting here in Bucharest will be the need to further step up the provision both of air defense systems but also of course, spare parts, training, and ammunition to the different air defense systems, because we need to help Ukraine to defend themselves against this horrific type of warfare,” Stoltenberg added. (ILKHA)