Thursday 13 July 2023 04:25
Photo: NATO summit shows how far Russia has been pushed back from its invasion of Ukraine (Getty Images)
The NATO summit in Vilnius showed how far the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation threw Moscow back from the original goals for which the aggression against Ukraine began.
Preventing NATO expansion and moving the Alliance’s borders away from Russia were among the Kremlin’s stated goals ahead of its invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin constantly reiterated this goal throughout the war.
The absence of a general resonance in the Russian information space in connection with the events at the NATO summit, as well as Finland’s entry into NATO and Turkey’s agreement to send a protocol on joining the Alliance to Sweden, probably indicates that the Kremlin accepted and internalized these defeats.
Many Russian sources report the NATO summit in a dispassionate and muted tone that is out of proportion to the wider defeat this summit actually represents for Russia’s pre-war goals.
Key Findings ISW:
Ukraine concluded bilateral security and defense agreements during the second day of the NATO summit on 12 July. On July 12, Ukrainian forces continued counter-offensive operations in at least three sectors of the front line and were reportedly successful in some sectors. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the PMC “Wagner” almost completely handed over weapons and military equipment to the Defense Ministry. Russian and Ukrainian forces reportedly carried out limited ground attacks along the Kupyansk–Svatovo line. Russian and Ukrainian forces continued clashes in the Kremennaya area, where Russian forces reportedly made limited gains. Ukrainian forces continued counter-offensive operations in the area of Bakhmut. Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces carried out limited ground attacks in the western Donetsk region. The Armed Forces of Ukraine continued counter-offensive actions along the administrative border between Zaporizhia and Donetsk regions.
Read more about security guarantees for Ukraine from the G7 in the RBC-Ukraine article.
Read urgent and important messages about Russia’s war against Ukraine on the channel RBC-Ukraine on Telegram.
2023-07-13 01:25:34
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