Russia increasingly relies on Iranian weapons in Ukraine war, NATO worried about escalation / Article

Commentators started talking about Russia’s increasingly limited ability to carry out sufficiently effective strikes against Ukraine when Moscow bought drones from Tehran. While they proved to be a very effective means of attack at first, Ukrainian forces soon learned to deal with them effectively. However, it seems that military cooperation between Iran and Russia has once again reached a new level.

As stated by John Kirby, head of strategic communications for national security at the American White House, it is expected that the support provided by Iran to Russia will only increase in the coming months. Both sides are considering setting up a joint drone manufacturing facility, and Moscow is also ready to provide unprecedented military and technical support to Tehran, including pilot training. That is why Iran is urged to abandon these activities.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has expressed great concern about the continuation of the war in Ukraine. In his opinion,

if hostilities spiral out of control, it could escalate into a full-scale war between Russia and NATO.

In an interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK, Stoltenberg said that everything possible is being done to prevent such a scenario from happening. At the same time, he expressed confidence that this war will end even at the negotiating table, where Ukraine will be in leading positions.

“This war is also likely to end at the negotiating table. However, how negotiations proceed at such a negotiating table depends on strength and success on the battlefield,” Stoltenberg stressed. “Only when [Krievijas] President Putin will realize that Ukraine has both the ability and the means to prevent him from conquering Ukraine, only then will Russia be able to offer something that will allow Ukraine to continue to be an independent country. Only the Ukrainians can decide when the time for such talks will come. We cannot decide the fate of Ukraine in Brussels, Washington or London. They have to decide it in Kiev.”

Institute for War Studies analysts

one of Russia’s goals in trying to negotiate with Ukraine is to agree a ceasefire to restore its forces, as well as achieve a division between Ukraine and its western partners.

For now, however, there’s no real reason to hope for such an outcome.

On the night of Saturday December 10, Russian forces once again struck Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and this time the Odessa region was hit. However, reports of so-called “friendly fire” when Russian forces shoot at each other have become more frequent recently, the Ukrainian General Staff reports. This testifies not only to the readiness of tank and artillery crews, but also to the lack of communication between units.

At the same time, it became known that Belarus allowed the export of Ukrainian grain through its territory in transit.

This was confirmed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Yuriy Ambrazevičs, during a meeting with the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonia Gutiérrez. At the same time, Belarus has asked the United Nations to allow it to export mineral fertilizers, which are currently subject to sanctions. In that case, Ukrainian grain will be able to be transported through Belarus to Lithuanian ports without hindrance.

Report a bug