NATO's stockpiles of weapons are being depleted because of the war in Ukraine. This was stated by Julianne Smith, U.S. Permanent Representative to the alliance, Newsweek reported.

This is a very serious problem both for NATO allies, who have made serious commitments, and for the Ukrainian armed forces themselves, who are facing shortages and dwindling supplies, Smith said. A myriad of entities and organizations are making efforts to increase supplies, she said.

Some of them are linked to the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), a U.S.-led effort to coordinate lethal assistance to 50 countries, some of which are not NATO members. Smith said they meet monthly and invite military industry representatives to try to determine how they can send the right signals to industry to give them the confidence they need to resume production lines.

During the third UDCG meeting in Brussels in June, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin advertised Congress' allocation of $40 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.

In November, Austin and Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with 50 countries and organizations during the seventh UDCG meeting. The meeting announced additional weapons, a $287 million aid package from Sweden, Hawk missile batteries and missiles from Spain, and $500 million in aid from Canada.

That same month, an anonymous NATO spokesman told Foreign Policy magazine that everyone is now quite concerned about reducing arms stocks.

These efforts are focused on reducing stockpiles throughout the NATO alliance, for example a country like Estonia, which has provided tremendous security assistance to Ukraine, Smith said.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told Newsweek last week that NATO allies need to increase arms shipments to Ukraine to ensure a complete victory for Kiev.

According to Smith, NATO is also in contact with the European Union. The key here is to find the connective tissue and make sure that the EU and NATO are communicating with each other in some of these efforts, she said.