NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Šekerinska stated that the timeliness of military assistance to Ukraine plays a decisive role.

This was reported on February 20 by Ukrinform.

Šekerinska expressed her view at a press conference after a meeting of defense ministers in the E5 format (Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy) in Krakow.

“We continue to support Ukraine. This was the main topic of our discussions today, as well as our focus at last week’s Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels”, — she said.

She recalled recent reports confirming that the Russian army, which expected to capture Kyiv in three days, suffered historically high losses in December and January (35,000 and 30,000 killed, respectively).

Šekerinska noted that during the meeting, E5 representatives heard from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence a “very clear defense plan for Ukraine”, adding:

“Our role is to support these efforts — to continue supporting Ukraine so that it can defend itself today, remain strong while negotiations continue, and deter any future aggression”.