 NATO chief. Ukraine needs to be armed for a long war. Ukraine's foreign backers should be prepared to maintain their military support for a long time. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said. The need for weapons will continue to be there because this is a war of attrition. This is about industrial capacity to sustain the support. The official told the Guardian newspaper. He noted that Ukraine's expenditure of munitions in the conflict with Russia has outpaced the production capacity of the nation's arming Kiev. The NATO chief urged members of the US-led bloc to beef up their military spending to at least the target level of 2% GDP to sustain the war effort. Moscow, Stoltenberg claimed, is also running low on weapons despite boosting its manufacturing and is seeking arms from other nations including Iran and North Korea. Such claims have repeatedly been made by Western officials, also with reference to China. But Russia and those countries have all denied any such supplies. Stoltenberg also criticised Beijing's attempt to mediate in the conflict and broker a peace agreement. Beijing, he insisted, needs to understand Ukraine's perspectives and engage with President Volodymyr Zelensky directly. China-Ukraine relations reportedly suffered a serious blow after the Zelensky government blocked the purchase of Ukrainian aerospace giant Motor Seek by a Chinese firm. The deal was effectively stopped in January 2021 when Kiev imposed sanctions on the Chinese businessmen behind them prohibiting the transfer of assets. Earlier this week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz issued a similar warning on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, saying Western powers should prepare ourselves that it can last a long time.