Ukraine has chance to ‘tip the balance’ against Russia claims NATO
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Ukraine’s military has the potential to turn the tables on Vladimir Putin’s troops according to Mr Stoltenberg who was speaking on Wednesday following a meeting of NATO Ministers of Defence. He also warned that the Russian leader shows no sign of seeking peace in the conflict which has been raging since the Kremlin’s invasion last February.
Mr Stoltenberg told the press conference Putin has shown no signs of “preparing for peace.”
He said “I welcome the new pledges of support made by NATO allies, including more heavy weapons and military training. This is critical.
“Ukraine has a window of opportunity to tip the balance and time is of the essence.”
Russian forces have claimed some battlefield success Wednesday, as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine struggles to gain momentum almost a year after it began.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its troops broke through two Ukrainian defensive lines in the eastern Luhansk region and pushed back Ukrainian troops some three kilometers (two miles), forcing them to leave behind equipment and the bodies of those killed.
It was not possible to independently verify Moscow’s claim. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment.
Russian artillery, drones and missiles have been relentlessly pounding Ukrainian-held eastern areas for months, indiscriminately hitting civilian targets and wreaking destruction, as the war largely slowed to a grinding stalemate in the winter. Moscow is hungry for some progress after months of setbacks.
The Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which together make up the industrial Donbas region bordering Russia, continue to bear the brunt of Russia’s bombardments as Moscow reportedly moves more troops into the area.
In Luhansk, the number of Russian ground and air attacks is “growing every day,” Gov. Serhii Haidai said on Ukrainian TV.
“The Russians were able to transfer new forces for the offensive and now they are trying to overwhelm us with sheer human mass,” Haidai said.
With the one-year anniversary of Russia’s war approaching, followed by improved spring weather, Western officials and analysts say the fighting could be nearing acritical phase when both sides look to launch offensives.
The Kremlin is striving to secure eastern areas it illegally annexed last September — the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions — and where it claims its rule is welcomed. Pro-Moscow separatists have controlled part of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk province since 2014.
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