Russian troops regrouping, not withdrawing, says NATO chief

Reading Time: < 1 minute

NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that intelligence showed Russian forces in Ukraine were not withdrawing, but appeared to be regrouping, according to Al Jazeera. His assertion contradicted the Kremlin’s announcement on Tuesday that it planned to reduce military operations in Kyiv and Chernihiv, following bilateral negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul; NATO’s chief said Russia is maintaining pressure on Ukraine’s capital and other cities.

Stoltenberg told reporters, “Russia is trying to regroup, resupply and reinforce its offensive in the Donbas region.”

Those sentiments were corroborated by Ukraine’s General Staff of Armed Forces, which reported Russia was “preparing for the resumption of offensive operations in certain areas and establishing full control over the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions”.

Meanwhile, in a video message on Thursday, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Russia had destroyed the greater part of Ukraine’s defence industry.

Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that as of Friday those buying Russian gas would have to pay in rubles by opening an account at Gazprom bank, writes the BBC; previously the Russian President had threatened to cut off gas supplies to “unfriendly” buyers if they didn’t settle their bill in rubles. But Western governments say his demand is a breach of contract. Among them, Germany’s Minister of Economy Robert Habeck said: “It is important for us not to give a signal that we will be blackmailed by Putin.”

Source: Al Jazeera, BBC, The Guardian

Drew Leifheit

Recent Posts

US soldiers die during Lithuania training exercise

A total of three US soldiers were found dead while a fourth remains missing after…

13 hours ago

Trump-Putin detente could revive Nord Stream 2

The US and Russia are discussing the potential reopening of the Nord Stream 2 gas…

13 hours ago

Dodik dodges arrest warrant, surfaces in Moscow

Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik announced that he had arrived in Moscow on Monday…

13 hours ago

CEE startups outpace Western Europe rivals

Startups in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are growing faster than in Western Europe and…

14 hours ago

Gender pay gaps remain in CEE, despite EU efforts

Romania and Poland have gender pay disparities among the lowest in the EU, according to…

1 week ago

Europe’s trilemma: rearmament, green transition, competitiveness

European leaders met in Brussels on 20 March to confront a mounting policy dilemma: how…

1 week ago