By Athena Papakosta

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, picked up the phone and contacted a number of Western leaders after the temporary freeze of American military aid to Ukraine by the Republicans in Congress.

The Biden communication was aimed at allaying their concerns as Ukraine struggles to gain ground in the war that has raged for the past 19 months and Kiev prepares for another difficult winter. On the other end of the line were leaders from Canada, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom, the French foreign minister, the leadership of NATO, the European Commission and the European Council.

According to the White House, all emphasized that their support for Ukraine remains unchanged, while no one expressed any doubts about Washington’s support for Kiev.

The President of Poland Andrei Duda, during a press conference, explained that “everyone took the floor.” According to him, Biden assured all the leaders that the support in the US Congress for Ukraine is stronger compared to what the media reports.

“The main topic was the situation in Ukraine. President Biden spoke to us about the situation in the US and what is the real political situation in the country for Ukraine,” said Mr. Duda, adding that the American president emphasized that he is sure “he will receive the support of Congress.”

According to the White House, the leaders also discussed ways to provide military aid to Ukraine, ways to strengthen Ukrainian air defenses and ways to fortify Ukraine with energy for winter.

At the same time, however, NATO and the United Kingdom warned at the Warsaw Security Forum that Western military forces are “running out” of munitions as Ukraine fires thousands of missiles daily.

In particular, Admiral Rob Bauer, NATO’s top military official, stressed that “the bottom of the barrel is now visible” adding that governments and arms manufacturers should “increase production at the highest rate.”

According to the BBC, Admiral Bower, who is the chairman of NATO’s Military Commission, said that decades of underinvestment in the defense industry meant that NATO countries had started supplying Ukraine with weapons, having already stockpiled their ammunition. half full or even emptier than that.

For his part, the British Minister responsible for the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, James Hippie, speaking at the Forum, underlined that the military reserves of the West “seem to be thinning” and called on NATO members to spend 2% of their GDP on Defense . “If now is not the time, when there is a war going on in Europe, to spend 2% on Defense, when is it?”, he asked.