NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg would like to emphasize that what Russian forces are now doing is not a withdrawal.
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The war in Ukraine today enters its sixth week. At the same time as presenting an annual report for 2021, the NATO chief also comments on Russia’s claims of downscaling around the Ukrainian capital.
– Russian units do not withdraw, but regroup, says Stoltenberg.
He emphasizes that Russia is now regrouping and moving forces around, and says they believe it is to strengthen efforts in the Donbas.
– Russia is trying to regroup, bring in new supplies and strengthen its offensive in the Donbas region. At the same time, Russia maintains pressure on Kyiv and other cities. So we can expect new offensive operations that bring more suffering, Stoltenberg believes.
Moving forces away from Kyiv
Tankesmien Institute for the study of war (ISW), who writes war analyzes, writes that Russian forces around Kyiv, both in the northwest and around Brovary, continued to withdraw into Belarus on Wednesday. They also believe that it is probably to strengthen the fighting on other fronts.
The Pentagon announced yesterday that Russia is in the process of moving around 20 percent of the Russian forces that have been around Kyiv.
But both Kyiv and Chernihiv have been bombed by Russian forces since Russia on Wednesday claimed they were going «Drastically downscale» its military activity there.
The NATO chief has taken note of Russian allegations that they will downsize.
– But Russia has repeatedly lied about its intentions. We can only judge Russia by their actions, not what they say, Stoltenberg believes.
British intelligence predicts Thursday morning that there will probably still be heavy fighting in the suburbs of Kyiv in the next few days and points out that Russian forces still have areas east and west of the city.
An analyst at the British think tank Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) says BBC that Russian forces are retreating to positions that are easier to defend, but believe the Russians will continue the artillery attacks, precisely to prevent these positions from being attacked.
ISW also does not think Russia will give up the areas it has taken around Kyiv – and writes that they continue to consolidate their positions.
This is what the NATO chief thinks about the peace talks
When asked how he assesses the peace negotiations, Stoltenberg answers that he welcomes all attempts at peace.
– At the same time, it is obvious that we have seen little willingness from the Russian side to find a political solution. What we see is a continued military invasion of Ukraine, says Stoltenberg.
“It is good that talks are ongoing, but so far we have not seen any real change in Russia’s main goal, and that is to have a military solution to the conflict,” said the NATO chief.
See the entire press conference here:
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