TAKE COVER: On Sunday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his colleague from Japan, Yoko Kamikawa, had to seek cover in a shelter when the flight alert went off in Kyiv. Photo: Jevgenij Maloletka / AP / NTB
Several NATO countries are considering whether to give Ukraine long-range missiles. Such missiles could reach military targets in Russia and Crimea, and could give Ukraine control over large parts of the Black Sea.
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- Several NATO countries are considering giving Ukraine long-range missiles to reach military targets in Russia and Crimea
- On Wednesday, the NATO countries and Ukraine will meet in Brussels to discuss the status and consider new countermeasures against Russia
- Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has asked for more air defense and ammunition, combat drones and missiles with a range of over 300 km
- His Norwegian colleague Espen Barth Eide believes it is smart that Ukraine attacks Russian forces harder in the Black Sea and Crimea
- Turkey will not allow British minesweeping vessels – a donation to Ukraine’s navy – to sail into the Black Sea
Sea view
On Wednesday, NATO countries and Ukraine will meet in Brussels. There they will discuss the status of the war, and consider new countermeasures after Russia has attacked Ukraine with a wave of missiles and drones in the two weeks since the Christmas weekend.
“Again, Russia has tried to force Ukraine to its knees through a major attack from the air, 500 missiles and attack drones, in an attempt to overload our air defense and destroy critical infrastructure,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on a video link to the Swedish security conference on Sunday afternoon.
Ukraine has requested Wednesday’s urgently convened meeting of the NATO/Ukraine Council. The meeting brings together the countries’ NATO ambassadors, and will be chaired by Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Ukraine’s offensive in 2023 did not succeed in breaking through the 1,000 kilometer long front line. According to VG’s information, NATO countries are now discussing how they can help Ukraine with heavier and longer-range weapons.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has asked the NATO countries to supply Ukraine as soon as possible. He is asking for more air defense and ammunition, combat drones and missiles with a range of over 300 kilometers.
WAS IN THE STORING: Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (centre) was with Ukraine’s president in Oslo in December, together with the president’s closest advisors Ihor Zhovkva (left) and Andrij Jermak. Sitting in the back from the left are Norway’s ambassador to Ukraine Helene Sand Andresen, communications manager Anne Kristin Hjukse and expedition manager Kjersti Andersen, both from the Prime Minister’s office. Photo: Tore Kristiansen / VG
Britain has since this summer donated Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine. They have a range of about 250 kilometers. The British have set as a condition that the missiles should not be fired at targets inside Russia, but only be used within Ukraine’s own borders.
Some military success
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) believes it is smart for Ukraine to try for a breakthrough in the war by attacking Russian forces harder in the Black Sea and Crimea.
He acknowledges that it is very difficult for the Ukrainian forces to break the Russian defense lines in eastern Ukraine.
– If there had been a front in motion, Ukraine would have had a great advantage with Western weapons and a far better coordination between infantry and artillery. With a static line where both parties have dug themselves into trenches with heavy defensive works, that advantage is zeroed out, says Eide to VG.
CHEERS UKRAINE: Espen Barth Eide hopes that Ukraine can achieve a military success in the Black Sea. Here he listens to his political adviser Milla Skaug Ødegaard (Ap). Photo: Tore Kristiansen / VG
– Therefore, it seems that Ukraine is now trying to gain an advantage at sea, where it is much more difficult to maintain a permanent front line. If Ukraine manages to break the connection between Russia and Crimea, it will weaken Russia’s control in the Black Sea.
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The Norwegian foreign minister believes that Ukraine has had some military success in the Black Sea already:
– Ukraine has managed to export grain by sailing further west in the Black Sea. It brings income to the country, and is therefore also a military success.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyj, at least 500 merchant ships have used this western route from Ukraine and through the Black Sea in recent months.
Stopped British donation
According to British intelligence, Ukraine has managed to destroy 20 percent of Russia’s Black Sea fleet with missile and drone attacks. Turkey effectively prevents Russia from bringing other vessels to the Black Sea from the Northern Fleet or from the Baltic Sea through the Bosphorus Strait.
Turkey does this on the basis of an international convention that gives the country the right to stop military vessels belonging to warring parties.
But Turkey’s stance also affects the coalition supporting Ukraine:
Great Britain and Norway announced in December that they will help Ukraine build up a modern naval defence. Part of this package was that the British donate two minesweepers to Ukraine.
But the NATO country Turkey will not allow that the two warships sail into the Black Sea. The reasoning is the same as they have used to refuse Russian warships to sail through the Bosphorus.
Published:
Published: 09.01.24 at 22:54
2024-01-09 21:54:32
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