NATO Military Committee Chief Rob Bauer said during a visit to Kyiv on Thursday (21 March) that Ukraine’s allies should not be too pessimistic about its ability to repel Russian troops and called for important aid to be delivered quickly.

Bauer led the first official visit to Kyiv by a NATO military delegation since February 2022 when Russia sent thousands of troops to Ukraine in a multi-pronged invasion.

Kyiv’s troops are facing shortages of ammunition shells and manpower, and are on the back foot in the east where Russian forces are inching forward.

“Ukraine needs even more support. And you need it now. Time in Ukraine is not measured in days, weeks or months. It is measured in human lives. In allied nations a week is a week. In Ukraine a week is a mother, a father, child, friend, lover, lost forever,” he told the Kyiv Security Forum.