Actions by the Ukrainian Army to try to retake territory from the Russians are underway, but Kiev is not divulging details. Several member countries of the military alliance have been sending military and financial support to Ukraine.
(DW) A successful counteroffensive by Ukraine could prompt Russian President Vladimir Putin to “sit down at the negotiating table,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told CNN on Tuesday (6/13).
“The more ground [the Ukrainians] gain, the more likely it is that President Putin will understand that he has to sit down at the negotiating table and agree to a just and lasting peace,” said the NATO leader, who will be hosted on Tuesday by US President Joe Biden.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski acknowledged the existence of “counteroffensive actions” of the Ukrainian army on the battlefront, without clarifying, however, whether it is the major counterattack prepared by Kiev several months ago.
“Counteroffensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine, and I will not speak further details,” Zelenski said at a press conference. “It is necessary to have confidence in the military, and I have confidence in them,” he added.
On Tuesday, Ukraine reported small initial successes in its counteroffensive, saying its army has recaptured seven villages in the eastern Donetsk region, covering a total area of 90 square kilometers. “Seven settlements were liberated” in the last week of fighting in the region, including Blahodatne, Neskuchne, Makarivka and Storozheve, the country’s Defense Ministry said.
The statement added that Ukrainian forces advanced “250 to 700 meters” toward the eastern city of Bakhmut.
Russian authorities did not confirm these Ukrainian gains, and said on Monday that Russian forces had repelled attacks in the same area in the Donetsk region, near Velyka Novosilka and around the village of Levadne in the Zaporizhzhia region.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry published an unverified video showing what it said was a German-made Leopard 2 tank and a US-made Bradley fighting vehicle captured from Ukrainian forces in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
Ukraine is not part of NATO, but several member countries of the military alliance have been sending military and financial support to Kiev to counter the Russian invasion.
NATO Succession
The meeting between Stoltenberg and Biden comes a few weeks before the annual NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, theoretically the last one Stoltenberg will attend, whose term ends in October.
“I am absolutely convinced that [the 31 NATO member countries] will find an excellent successor,” the Norwegian said, assuring that his “priority at the moment [is] to lead the alliance until the end of [his] term.”
There is much speculation about who will succeed Stoltenberg if his term is not extended once again – he is in his third term at the head of the military alliance and last December said he had no intention of staying on.
Among the names being considered to head NATO are Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who would be the first woman to hold the post, and British Defense Minister Ben Wallace.
Recently, Biden said that Wallace was “very qualified,” but that a “consensus” would have to be found in NATO, an organization sometimes fraught with tensions, as illustrated by Sweden’s complicated accession process.
Sweden still out of the alliance
For thirteen months, Turkey has been blocking Sweden’s entry into the military alliance. Ankara accuses Stockholm of harboring Kurdish militants on its territory.
On Monday, Sweden announced the extradition to Turkey of a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant convicted in his country of drug trafficking, thus fulfilling a condition imposed by Ankara for the Nordic country’s entry into NATO.
Stoltenberg said he was “very confident” that Turkey will soon release Sweden’s membership in the military alliance.
bl (Lusa, DW)