NATO Secretary General highlights Ukraine's great achievements in war with Russia

Tổng thư ký NATO nêu thành tựu lớn của Ukraine trong chiến sự với Nga - 1 — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (Photo: Reuters).

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said fierce battles are taking place on the front line in Ukraine and Kiev has made some gains in the fight against Russia.

He pointed out that, in recent months, Ukraine has not made any significant progress on the battlefield, unlike last year when Kiev regained more than half of the territories controlled by Russia at the beginning of the war.

"However, from the perspective of military success, Ukraine still achieved great achievements, such as attacking Russian military facilities deep behind the front line, destroying Moscow's planes and helicopters. And even without a fleet, Ukraine was still able to force Russia to move ships of the Black Sea Fleet to Novorossiysk, helping to open the grain corridor in the Black Sea... This is a great achievement," the NATO Secretary General emphasized.

Mr Stoltenberg declared that this achievement "is not measured in square kilometres but in the destruction of Russia's military capabilities".

He previously said Ukraine needed to be ready for increased fighting and missile attacks from Russia in the winter. He also expressed confidence that Western allies would continue to provide large amounts of military aid to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that some of his counterparts attending the NATO meeting in Belgium this week admitted that Ukraine's counter-offensive campaign was unsuccessful as it failed to achieve any significant breakthroughs and progress.

The original plan, he said, was for Ukraine to push back Russia on the battlefield, causing political consequences in Moscow.

“I think everyone can see today – although they may not admit it – that this plan has failed,” Mr Szijjarto said.

"The goals and hopes regarding the Ukrainian counteroffensive have not come true because there have been no major changes and breakthroughs on the battlefield. Many people (participating in the NATO foreign ministers meeting) have acknowledged this," he said.

At the meeting, Secretary General Stoltenberg called on member states to continue providing military support to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, stressing that this was also in "our security interests".

Mr Stoltenberg said NATO would support Kiev “for as long as necessary”. He noted that NATO members had provided more than 100 billion euros ($109 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine since the conflict with Russia began.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said earlier this month that Western arms supplies had had a negligible impact on the front line, noting that "despite NATO's deliveries of new types of weapons, Ukraine is losing ground."

Russia believes that the transfer of Western-made weapons to Kiev makes the US and NATO countries de facto direct participants in the conflict, waging a proxy war against Russia.

In late October, the Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine had suffered 90,000 casualties in the counteroffensive since June.

Source