Earlier this week, Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that has recently seen heavy combat, may have fallen into Russian hands, according to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
“What we see is that Russia is throwing more troops, more forces, and what Russia lacks in quality they try to make up in quantity,” Stoltenberg said after a meeting of EU defense ministers in the Swedish capital of Stockholm.
“We cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days”
“They have suffered big losses, but at the same time, we cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days.”
The transatlantic alliance’s leader urged the members to continue supporting Ukraine. “It just highlights that we should not underestimate Russia. We must continue to provide support to Ukraine,” he insisted.
On Wednesday, Stoltenberg claimed that the blocked applications from Sweden and Finland to join the Western Military Alliance had advanced. Before a meeting with representatives from Sweden, Finland, and Turkey at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, he made these statements.
“I don’t expect the process to be concluded tomorrow. But I’m confident that Finland and Sweden will become NATO’s allies,” Stoltenberg told media personnel in Stockholm.
Josep Borrell, the head of the European Union’s foreign policy, revealed on Wednesday that he had pushed the alliance to spend €1 billion to restock their own supplies as well as to buy ammunition collectively for Ukraine. At a gathering of EU defense ministers in Stockholm, he told the media, “I propose to mobilize an additional €1bn,” according to Reuters.
Borrell also talked about the investigations into the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions, saying that no judgments could be drawn as long as the investigations were ongoing.