"No signs"
NATO: Russian offensive no breakthrough so far
Outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is not expecting any "major breakthroughs" by Russian troops in Ukraine. "They have tried again this spring and summer to launch an offensive - but have so far only achieved marginal success," he said in Brussels.
"We have no indication or reason to believe that Russia has the capabilities or the strength to make major breakthroughs," Stoltenberg continued. The Russian armed forces would probably increase the pressure on Ukraine and continue their airstrikes. So far, however, the Ukrainian soldiers have been able to "hold the front line."
We have no evidence or reason to believe that Russia has the capabilities or the power to make major breakthroughs.
NATO-Generalsekretär Jens Stoltenberg
"Trump criticizes allies"
At the same time, the Norwegian expressed his conviction that the US government would remain a "strong NATO ally", as this was "in the security interests of the United States". This applies regardless of the outcome of the elections in early November. "Former President Trump's criticism is not primarily directed at NATO. It is directed at allies who are not spending enough, and that has now changed." Currently, 23 of the 32 member countries meet the target of spending two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.
Meeting with Selenskyj
Stoltenberg met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday afternoon. Among other things, they were to discuss the summit of the defense alliance in Washington in the second week of July. Stoltenberg had already dampened Ukraine's hopes for early membership some time ago. He said that there was not yet the necessary consensus among the members.
However, the war-torn country is to make long-term commitments for military aid, and NATO also wants to coordinate the delivery of weapons and expand the training of the Ukrainian armed forces (see video above).
Stoltenberg will hand over the post of NATO Secretary General to outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on October 1. The politician has thus been at the helm of the alliance for ten years.
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