NATO leader warns never to underestimate Russia
(Baonghean.vn) - Mr. Jens Stoltenberg told reporters that despite "unprecedented" support from the West, Kiev's forces have been unable to move the front line.
According to RT, on November 27, speaking to the press, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine's failure to break through Russia's defense lines over the past year has made NATO think that "we should never underestimate Russia."
Speaking to reporters ahead of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting, Mr. Stoltenberg was asked whether the U.S.-led bloc could and would be willing to arm Ukraine to launch another counteroffensive against Russian forces in the spring.
Mr. Stoltenberg declared that NATO members were “unwavering” in their commitment to Kiev, pointing to the “unprecedented” amounts of weapons and equipment sent to Ukraine by these countries, and also to upcoming arms deliveries – including air defense systems and fighter jets, as well as recent pledges by Germany and the Netherlands of a total of 10 billion euros (nearly $11 billion) in military aid to Kiev next year.
However, the NATO chief admitted that “even with significant military support from NATO allies, the Ukrainians have not been able to move the front line over the past year.”
“And that just reflects the fact that we should never underestimate Russia,” he continued. “Their defense industry is on standby, they can resupply their forces with new ammunition and capabilities… which makes it difficult to achieve the territorial gains that we hope for.”
According to RT, earlier, at the same press conference, NATO Secretary General rejected the view that the conflict is currently at a “stalemate”, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Valery Zaluzhny, suggested earlier this month. However, Mr. Stoltenberg said the situation on the front line is “extremely difficult”, with “intense fighting” and “high casualties”.
According to the latest figures from the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Ukrainian counteroffensive failed to break through Russia’s complex network of defense fortifications, resulting in the deaths of at least 103,000 Ukrainian soldiers between early June and mid-November. In return for those losses, Ukraine regained only 400 km, according to the French newspaper Le Monde reported last month.2 over 100,000 km2held by Russia.
Despite Stoltenberg’s assertion that “Putin is not winning this war,” Western officials are increasingly convinced that Ukraine cannot hope to regain all of its former territories and will inevitably have to seek a peace deal with Russia, according to recent media reports. However, Ukrainian President Zelensky has maintained that he will not negotiate with the Kremlin./.