Jens Stoltenberg confident Ukraine will regain Russian-occupied territory
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday he was confident that Ukraine, which is preparing a counter-offensive, would be able to regain Russian-held territory, according to Agerpres.
"I am confident that they (Ukrainians) will still be able to clear more ground," Stoltenberg said on the sidelines of a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at the US military base in Ramstein, Germany.
"One of the main issues discussed here today was reviewing the various capabilities, systems and supplies that the Ukrainians need to take back more ground," he added.
Jens Stoltenberg said he wanted the North Atlantic Alliance to continue talks on delivering Western fighter jets to Ukraine and stressed that arming Ukraine was more important now than discussing the country's potential NATO membership.
"If Ukraine does not establish itself as an independent sovereign nation in Europe, then there is no point in discussing membership," the senior NATO official explained, according to dpa.
So far, Ukraine has received Soviet-designed MiG-29s from allied countries, but Kiev has requested Western fighter jets. These could be US-built F-16s.
On 24 February 2022, Russia launched an unprovoked and unjustified aggression against neighbouring Ukraine, but claims to be conducting a "special military operation to denazify" the neighbouring country and protect the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine.
Kiev has announced that Russian troops must leave the entire territory of Ukraine, including regions annexed last year and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, before discussing a possible peace plan with Moscow.
