We should never underestimate Russia

Ukraine’s failure to penetrate Russian lines over the past year demonstrates that NATO should do so “Don’t underestimate Russia” The bloc’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday.

Speaking to the press ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, he was asked whether the US-led bloc was able and willing to arm Ukraine for another counter-offensive against Russian forces in the spring.

Stoltenberg claimed that NATO members “Steady” In their commitment to Kyiv, noting “Unprecedented” The quantities of weapons and equipment sent by these countries to Ukraine, the upcoming arms shipments – including air defense systems and combat aircraft, as well as recent pledges from Germany and the Netherlands to commit a combined amount of 10 billion euros (about 11 billion dollars) in the military field. Aid to Kyiv next year.

However, the Secretary General of NATO admitted this “Even with this significant and significant military support from NATO allies, [the Ukrainians] “Over the past year, we have not been able to move the front line.”

“This reflects the fact that we should never underestimate Russia,” he added. He completed. “Their defense industry is at war, and they are unable to resupply their forces with new ammunition and capabilities…making it difficult to achieve the territorial gains we hope for.”

Earlier in the press conference, the Secretary-General rejected the idea that the conflict had now reached point zero “stalemate” As the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Valery Zalozhny, put it earlier this month. However, Stoltenberg said that the situation is on the front line “Very difficult,” with “Fierce fighting” And “Victim numbers are high”

Ukraine’s long-promised counteroffensive failed to break Russia’s complex network of defensive fortifications, killing at least 103,000 Ukrainian soldiers between early June and mid-November, according to the latest figures from the Russian Defense Ministry. In exchange for these losses, Ukraine was able to recover only 400 square kilometers out of more than 100,000 controlled by Russia, according to a report by the French newspaper Le Monde last month.

Although Stoltenberg insisted on this “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is not winning this war.” Western officials are increasingly convinced that Ukraine cannot hope to regain all of its former territory, and will inevitably have to seek a peace agreement with Russia, according to Reuters. Recently Media Reports. However, President Zelensky maintains that he will not negotiate with the Kremlin, even as some of his aides report Scenery His belief in military victory “Phantom.”