[ad_1]
The NATO chief assesses the state of battle, saying Russia ‘retains important capabilities, in addition to numerous troops’.
After recapturing Kherson metropolis, Ukraine faces troublesome months forward, NATO Secretary-Normal Jens Stoltenberg has mentioned.
Stoltenberg on Monday praised the “unimaginable braveness” of Ukrainian forces following Russia’s withdrawal from the strategic southern regional capital and urged continued worldwide help for Kyiv.
“The approaching months will likely be troublesome. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s goal is to go away Ukraine chilly and darkish this winter,” he instructed reporters in The Hague after assembly the Dutch overseas and defence ministers.
“We must always not make the error of underestimating Russia,” Stoltenberg mentioned, stressing that Moscow’s forces “retain important capabilities, in addition to numerous troops”.
“Russia has demonstrated the willingness to bear important losses,” Stoltenberg added.
The town of Kherson was the primary main city hub to fall to Russian forces after Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, and the one regional capital Moscow’s troops gained management over.
Russian forces withdrew final week after Normal Sergey Surovikin announced that they may now not hold the world equipped.
Moscow’s retreat “demonstrates the unimaginable braveness of the Ukraine armed forces, but it surely additionally confirmed our continued help for Ukraine”, Stoltenberg mentioned.
The town’s liberation is the most recent in a string of setbacks for the Kremlin after being pushed again from giant parts of territory within the south and east.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday visited the newly freed metropolis after saying on Sunday that proof had uncovered a whole bunch of latest “battle crimes” carried out by the Russian occupiers.
Stoltenberg mentioned Russian forces had “proven excessive brutality”.
“You’ve all seen the horrific scenes from the liberated territories and the indiscriminate assaults on civilians and important infrastructure,” Stoltenberg instructed reporters.
It was not clear whether or not he referred to Kherson particularly.
Stoltenberg additionally mentioned that it was now as much as Ukraine to determine the terms for negotiations to finish the battle.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to touch upon Zelenskyy’s go to to Kherson and insisted: “This territory is a part of the Russian Federation.”
Stoltenberg met Dutch Overseas Minister Wopke Hoekstra and Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren to debate the Netherlands’ contribution to NATO and the battle in Ukraine.
“All of us now see, with the liberation of Kherson, that the Ukrainian technique is working,” Ollongren mentioned.
“However winter is coming … and we should keep the course.
“If Russia stops combating tomorrow, there isn’t any extra battle anymore.
“If Ukraine stops combating, there will likely be no extra Ukraine,” she mentioned.
[ad_2]
Source link
