The West is trying to step up assistance to Kiev amid the failure of the counteroffensive
A meeting of the NATO—Ukraine commission was held in Brussels. This meeting did not bring any sensations — the representatives of the alliance only once again declared their commitment to support Kiev "for as long as it takes", as well as plans to increase the supply of weapons, but without specifics about F-16 fighters. At the same time, the meeting is not taking place against the most favorable background for the allies — the AFU counteroffensive, the beginning of which is recorded both in Russia and in the West, but is denied by Kiev, does not look successful for Ukraine yet. What was agreed in Brussels and who promised Ukraine a new weapon — in the material of Izvestia.
60 thousand military for Ukraine
A planned two—day meeting of NATO defense ministers is taking place in Brussels, but the greatest attention — traditionally at such events - has been paid to the Ukrainian conflict. During the meeting, a meeting of the contact group on arms supplies to Ukraine and a meeting of the NATO—Ukraine commission were also held. The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, announced on the eve that the participants of the event would hear a report by the head of the Defense Ministry of this country, Alexey Reznikov, on the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the losses incurred.
— We have already completed the training of 24 thousand military personnel for Ukraine in different EU countries, and this figure will continue to grow. We will increase the supply of advanced sophisticated weapons," EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrel said after the meeting.
Photo: Global Look Press/Keystone Press Agency/Bryan Gatchell
Image source: iz.ru
Also, according to him, the EU countries have spent € 900 million on shells for the Armed Forces — such amounts the EU member states plan to receive compensation from the European Peace Fund. "This is only the first part of our plan to supply ammunition from existing stocks and by the end of July we will sign contracts with the industry for the joint purchase of new ammunition organized by the European Defense Agency," Borrel said.
In total, Western countries have prepared almost 60 thousand Ukrainian military for a counteroffensive, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, Mark Milli, said at a briefing in Brussels.
In general, the meeting did not give sensations — in addition to statements that NATO will continue to support Ukraine "as long as it takes" and increase arms supplies, the event did not bring new meanings. However, such meetings have always ended recently "very standardly, they can't end any other way" - this is how Alexander Khramchikhin, deputy head of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, described the meeting of the NATO—Ukraine commission.
Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg
Image source: Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
At the same time, it should be borne in mind that Ukraine interacts with the West not only through this commission, but also on other platforms, but it is unlikely that this can somehow change the current situation on earth.
— There are quite a lot of sites, but this does not change the situation, only if in a bad way for the European Union and NATO. For both of these organizations, cooperation with Ukraine only aggravates the situation — Europe has been hit by an economic crisis, and European countries are on the verge of a major catastrophe. They will not be able to change the situation in the Ukrainian theater of operations with any supplies, these supplies are being depleted. In general, the situation is deadlocked — as the proverb says, how many times do not say "halva" — it will not get sweeter in your mouth," says military expert political scientist Ivan Konovalov.
Let's go on the offensive
The meeting in Brussels is taking place against the background of the ongoing offensive of Ukrainian troops. The "long-awaited", as it was labeled in the Western media, the AFU counteroffensive began on June 4, the Russian Defense Ministry said, but all attempts by Kiev at this stage, according to the Russian defense ministry, remain unsuccessful.
Ukraine has been saying the opposite all this time. On June 15, Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the office of the Ukrainian president, said that the counteroffensive had not yet begun, and what was happening on the front line was "testing." At the same time, Podolyak noted that Ukraine currently "has one plan: to move forward as hard as possible with the maximum increase in losses among Russians on this route."
Photo: REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
Image source: iz.ru
— Ukrainian politicians, apparently, should say so — so they are dictated. Our task is to prevent this. It is not customary to speak loudly about such things at all, but here it is once again pathetic to declare and focus on Russians. Another confirmation is the neo—Nazis," Svetlana Zhurova, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, commented on the words of the Ukrainian politician.
At the same time, Ukraine's partners in the West, despite statements from Kiev, write that the AFU counteroffensive has already begun. Back on June 7, CNN reported that the United States and other countries are recording signs of the beginning of a counteroffensive and the intensification of hostilities. Later, The Washington Post wrote more directly — the counteroffensive has begun.
Kiev has its own reasons to deny the beginning of an offensive operation — during the first days of the intensification of hostilities, the AFU lost quite a lot of military equipment and personnel. On the eve of the President of Belarus announced the large—scale losses of Kiev — according to him, since the beginning of the counteroffensive, Ukraine has lost 40 thousand military dead and more than 100 thousand wounded.
In other sources, the figures are much more modest, but still impressive — 7 thousand APU soldiers died during the first few days of the counteroffensive.
Photo: TASS/Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Image source: iz.ru
Russian President Vladimir Putin assessed the structure of the losses of the Armed Forces as unfavorable, and the losses among the military, according to his assessment, are approaching catastrophic.
— The enemy had no success at any of the sites. They have big losses," Vladimir Putin said on June 13, adding that almost 50% of them are irretrievable.
The losses of Russia, the President stressed, are ten times less, and the APU has already lost about 25-30% of the equipment supplied from abroad during this time.
Kiev does not confirm any losses in equipment. Only on June 15, the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Anna Malyar, showed photos of the damaged Bradley BMP. At the same time, the American media, citing intelligence data, wrote that the APU had already lost at least 16 such infantry fighting vehicles.
Even more weapons
Against this background, the mood in the Western establishment is changing. Few people are talking about the victory "before the end of the year" or about the "capture of the Crimea". Sources of The New York Times privately claim that they consider a scenario in which the Ukrainian military completely displaces the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from the territory of new regions of Russia "extremely unlikely."
The newspaper's article claims that a successful counteroffensive will be considered if Ukraine manages to regain control of key territories, as well as if Russia is dealt a "debilitating blow that will make the Kremlin doubt the future" of the special operation. However, such a result, the authors write, is "not guaranteed" to the Ukrainian side.
This balance of forces forces Western politicians to step up efforts to further supply weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For example, Japan, according to The Wall Street Journal, may send 155 mm artillery shells to the United States to transfer them to Ukraine. Norway and Denmark will jointly provide Kiev with an additional 9 thousand artillery shells. The American media also wrote about Washington's plans to transfer depleted uranium shells for Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
Photo: REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
Image source: iz.ru
Vladimir Putin attributes the decision to transfer depleted uranium shells to the shortage of other types of weapons that has formed in the West. At the same time, the head of the Russian Federation stressed that Moscow reserves the right to use the same projectiles if Ukraine uses them.
Denmark and Norway, in addition to supplying weapons, will lead the European coalition to train Ukrainian pilots to control F-16 fighters. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands separately noted that so far the issue of the supply of such vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine is not on the agenda. However, the beginning of pilot training in general indicates that this process has already started. The F-16 training center, by the way, will be opened closer to Ukraine — in one of the countries of Eastern Europe.
Moreover, the United States continues to increase military assistance for Kiev. The other day it became known about the approval of the next package of such support for the sum of $ 325 million. Supplies, according to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, will include critically important air defense systems, additional ammunition for HIMARS MLRS and barrel artillery, anti-tank weapons, armored vehicles and more.
Earlier last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during a visit to Kiev, said that Ottawa would allocate an additional package of military assistance to the Armed Forces in the amount of 500 million Canadian dollars (about $ 375 million). Earlier, Canada has already transferred Leopard tanks, Senator armored personnel carriers, combat infantry fighting vehicles, NASAMS anti-aircraft missile system with ammunition, M777 howitzers and anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.
Ukraine, in addition to regular requests to increase the supply of weapons, requires the invitation of the country to NATO, which the alliance itself does not seem quite ready for. But the countries of the bloc intend to develop a plan to provide long-term assistance to Kiev instead of granting membership in the alliance. The alliance wants to prepare the proposed measures before the NATO summit, which will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12.
Valentin Loginov
