Four months have passed since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, but the end does not seem near at all, according to many Western expectations, the latest of which was what the Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said.
He predicted that “the war that Russia is waging in Ukraine will take several years.”
In an interview with the German weekly newspaper “Bild”, published today, he said that “providing Ukrainian forces with the latest weapons would increase the chances of liberating the Donbass region from Russian control.”
Even if the cost is high
He also stressed the need to support Kyiv, saying, “We should not hesitate to support Ukraine even if the cost is high, not only for military support, but also because of high energy and food prices,” according to Reuters reported.
Stoltenberg had previously said that the NATO summit, which will be held later this month in Madrid, is expected to approve an aid package for Ukrainian forces that would help the country transition from old Soviet-era weapons to NATO’s standard equipment.
Donbass (Aystock)
These statements came at a time when the battles raged in the east between the Russian and Ukrainian forces, especially in and around the besieged city of Severodonetsk.
It is noteworthy that last March, after failing to enter the capital, Kyiv, the Russian forces launched the second phase of what it describes as the military operation that began on February 24 on Ukrainian territory, an attempt to control the important Donbass region (which includes Lugansk and Donetsk).
Russia aims to control the entire Donbass basin, after it was partially seized by the separatists loyal to it in 2014, with the aim of opening a land corridor linking the east with the Crimea, which it annexed to its territory in the same year.
