NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrived in Ukraine on April 20 with a surprise visit. It comes amid a recent leak from the Pentagon that suggests the US doesn’t have much confidence in Kyiv’s ability to succeed on the battlefield. In addition, this trip took place on the eve of the meeting of the contact group on Ukraine at Ramstein airbase on April 21. However, according to the interviewed experts, Stoltenberg’s visit should not be overestimated, and additional supplies of weapons from Western countries will not affect the course of hostilities.
Leave beautifully
This is the first visit of the head of the North Atlantic Alliance to Ukraine since the beginning of the special operation. In this sense, Jens Stoltenberg lagged significantly behind his colleagues in the alliance, who have visited Kyiv more than once over the past year. The program of the Secretary General’s stay in the Ukrainian capital began with a visit to Mikhailovskaya Square, followed by a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky.
It is noteworthy that Stoltenberg’s trip takes place against the backdrop of an incident with the leak of allegedly secret American documents, for which serviceman Jack Teixeira is already facing 15 years. From the leaked information, we can conclude that in the United States, on which, in fact, the entire alliance rests, they do not believe in the successful offensive of the Ukrainian troops. In particular, the files speak of a lack of ammunition in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and even surveillance of local officials.. NATO Secretary General clarified that the information is not true and will not affect the support of Ukraine from Western countries. Nevertheless, the documents that got into the network could not but shake Kyiv’s trust in Western partners.
However, at the final press conference, Zelensky and Stoltenberg tried to assure everyone that the situation was under control.
— Today we discussed a multi-year support program that will help Ukraine move away from Soviet military doctrines and Soviet weapons,” Stoltenberg said. – Allies are supplying more planes, tanks and armored vehicles, and the NATO fund for Ukraine provides urgent support. All this is of real importance on the battlefield today.
Zelensky, who was invited by the secretary general to the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, reiterated: “there is no objective barrier that would prevent political decisions on inviting a country to the alliance.” Stoltenberg slightly cooled the Ukrainian president’s ardour, saying that NATO’s main goal now “should be to secure a Ukrainian victory, since this is the only way to have a meaningful discussion about the future membership of Ukraine.”
However, there is nothing new in these statements, says Andrey Bystritsky, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai International Discussion Club. Words of support for Ukraine from Western states were heard repeatedly.
— There is nothing in today’s statements that could radically change the situation. They all sound vague: no deadlines, no details,” the expert told Izvestia. — Do not overestimate the importance of this visitno statements.
Wherein “Preventing Ukraine from joining NATO is still one of the goals of the special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed on April 20.
— The Kiev regime will continue to be pumped with weapons and military equipment so that this whole inflated bubble continues to roll towards Russia, and our main task now is not to miss when it hits us– said the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense Alexei Zhuravlev. – Stoltenberg says in plain text that NATO will not abandon Ukraine and will supply everything necessary. At the same time, he also names the amount of support – € 150 billion.three times more than the annual Ukrainian budget – and promises new deliveries of aircraft and tanks.
By the way, Stoltenberg has another reason – he is ending his tenure as the bloc’s general secretary, and perhaps he wants to, as in the American film of the same name – “to leave beautifully.”
Come on weapon
On the morning of April 21, Stoltenberg will arrive in Germany, where he will take part in a meeting of the contact group on Ukraine at the Ramstein airbase, where new measures of military support for Kyiv will be discussed. On April 20, it became known that two NATO countries – Denmark and the Netherlands – will give Ukraine 14 German-made Leopard-2 tanks. This was reported by the Danish media. At the same time, deliveries are likely to take place only at the beginning of 2024. In addition, Russian Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin recently announced that Copenhagen will send 19 Caesar artillery systems to Ukraine in May.
Some NATO allies have also started supplying aircraft to Ukraine. In total, a group of countries plans to transfer 70 fighters to Kiev: Warsaw – 28 MiG-29s, Sofia – 16 MiG-29s and 14 Su-25 attack aircraft, and Bratislava – 12 MiG-29s. So far, only a few aircraft have been handed over to the Ukrainian side. By the way, Dmitry Peskov has previously stated that the announced deliveries of MiG-29 fighters to Kyiv will not affect the course of the special operation., but will bring additional problems to Ukraine. And according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, arms deliveries on a gratuitous basis make NATO allies participants in the Ukrainian conflict.
The West basically does not provide Ukraine with the latest weapons, military expert Viktor Litovkin noted. In addition, many promised deliveries have not yet been realized.
— They talk more about it, but in reality we are talking about old weapons. And they do not play a fundamental role in the conduct of any military measures by Ukraine. In addition, this or that weapon requires competent people who own it, he explained. – For example, to supply the F-16, Ukraine must have airfields. A very large amount of work is required, factories are needed in order for the planes to fly. There is nothing of this in Ukraine, so supplying them with F-16s is more expensive for themselves. They are promised to supply the MiG-29 from old stocks, which have not been repaired or modernized for 20 years.
NATO has recently been trying to persuade countries that are not in the alliance to supply weapons to Ukraine. In particular, during a visit to Seoul in January 2023 Stoltenberg called on South Korea to begin military support for Kyiv. At the same time, the President of the Asian country, Yoon Seok-yeol, recently admitted that Seoul could start supplying weapons. – in the event that there is a serious danger to the civilian population or if the laws of warfare are grossly violated.
According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, the supply of weapons to Ukraine will indirectly mean the involvement of South Korea in the conflict. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev suggested that Seoul think about the reaction of the South Korean population to the appearance of the latest Russian weapons in neighboring North Korea.
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