Kyiv, Nov 14 (UNI) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday called for stepping up military assistance for Kiev and said Ukraine needs "sustainable" support as the situation in the battlefield remains "difficult" and the fighting continues.

"I expect that in the meeting we will also address the situation in Ukraine, intense fighting continues, the situation in the battlefield is difficult and that makes it even more important that we sustain and step up our support for Ukraine," Stoltenberg said ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting with defence ministers in Brussels.

The NATO chief also said that Ukraine itself would decide on the acceptable conditions for holding the possible peace talks with Russia.

Western allies began providing financial assistance to Kiev and pouring weapons and ammunition into Ukraine shortly after Russia launched its military operation in the country in February 2022, with the amount of money allocated for financial, humanitarian and military support for Ukraine exceeding $150 billion.

The Russian and Ukrainian delegations have engaged in several rounds of peace talks, but the negotiations ultimately reached an impasse.

In October 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree stating that Kiev could not hold peace talks as long as Vladimir Putin was president of Russia.

UNI/ SPUTNIK XC SSP