Opening the meeting, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that NATO is ready to defend every inch of its territory from invasion.
He noted that the alliance will not participate in this conflict, but its members will support Ukraine to an unprecedented level so that it can protect itself from Russia.
"We cannot allow Putin to win, otherwise it will give a green light to other authoritarian leaders and show them that they can achieve their goals through military force. This makes our world more dangerous for all of us. That's why we support Ukraine for our common security interests," Stoltenberg said.
He accused Russia of increasing brutality in this war and mentioned the financial burden placed on Europe and the rest of the world.
"In fact, we all pay for Russia's war in Ukraine, but if we pay for it in money, Ukraine is paying in blood," said NATO Secretary General.
Military assistance
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, said that for victory in the war, NATO countries need to increase the production of weapons immediately.
In an interview with Politico, he said that a long-term war cannot be won on the battlefield without investment in weapons production: "As we fight today's battles, we must also think about how we will fight tomorrow's battles."
According to Kuleba, there is no need to spend months negotiating with countries that, for political reasons, do not want to share weapons that could help Ukraine in the war.
"Instead of spending months hoping and persuading them, we should start production so that we are not dependent on the whims of third countries who have something in their warehouses but don't want to share it," he said. Hut.
He also noted that Ukraine needs air defense systems, tanks and production lines more than anything else.
During the summit, the participants are expected to discuss increasing the volume of military aid, including increasing the supply of air defense systems, ammunition, fuel, medicine and winter equipment.
So far, it is not clear whether the participants of the meeting will discuss the delivery of offensive weapons - the Ukrainian side is asking for exactly such weapons.
Hard winter
At this summit, NATO expressed its support for Ukraine and plans to announce new assistance aimed at eliminating the energy crisis caused by Russian missile strikes in the country.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is expected to announce significant financial assistance to Ukraine at the summit.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said that despite the lack of hope for a peaceful resolution of the conflict soon, the North Atlantic Alliance will continue to actively support Ukraine in the coming winter.
"Eventually a diplomatic solution will be found. This happens in every conflict. But we have not yet come close to it," he said.
Joly spoke of NATO's strong support for Ukraine, despite reports that Western allies are increasingly wary of continuing supplies of expensive weapons and concerns that Ukraine is rapidly running out of ammunition.
He noted that Canada has pledged additional military aid to Ukraine in the amount of 500 million Canadian dollars (370 million US dollars). Also, according to him, Russia's attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine will only increase the support provided by the allies in the West.
"We have to guarantee that Ukrainians can withstand this harsh winter," he said, adding that the energy ministers of NATO countries are looking for ways to solve the energy crisis.
The summit in Bucharest is significant because it was decided in the capital of Romania 14 years ago, in 2008, that Ukraine and Georgia could join NATO.
Vladimir Putin called this decision a direct threat to Russia's security, and four months later Russia invaded Georgian territory.
