According to NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, countries in the military alliance have delivered more than 98% of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine amid its war with Russia, giving Kyiv a bigger punch as it appears poised to launch a counteroffensive.
Along with more than 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment, member nations have sent Ukraine “vast amounts of ammunition” and also trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian brigades, the NATO Chief said on Thursday, April 27, 2023.
More than 30,000 troops are estimated to make up the new brigades.
“This will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue to retake occupied territory,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.
Stoltenberg said the 31 NATO allies were committed to shoring up Ukraine’s military, adding that taking back land occupied by the Kremlin’s forces would give Kyiv a stronger negotiating position if peace talks occur.
His comments came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had a “long and meaningful” phone call in their first known contact since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than a year ago.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry disclosed that Beijing’s “core stance is to facilitate talks for peace,” announcing that an envoy; a former Ambassador to Russia, would visit Ukraine to seek a “political settlement.”
Political science Professor, Kimberly Marten of Barnard College at Columbia University in New York, opined that the call balances China’s dialogue with Russia by showing it is “recognizing Ukraine’s leadership and indicating Ukraine is an important entity.”
Also, the Professor noted that the Chinese statement did not call for Russia to leave occupied areas or brand Russia as an aggressor, and refers to the situation as “a crisis, rather than a war.”
Though Zelenskyy said that he was encouraged by Wednesday’s call and Western officials welcomed Xi’s move, the development didn’t appear to bring about any immediate shift in peace prospects.
The White House described the call as a positive development, allowing Xi to hear Ukraine’s view of the “illegal, unprovoked invasion.” “We think that’s a good thing,” White House National Security Council Spokesman, John Kirby said.
Russia and Ukraine are far apart in their terms for peace, and Beijing, while looking to position itself as a global diplomatic power, has refused to criticize Moscow’s invasion. The Chinese government sees Russia as a diplomatic ally in opposing U.S. influence in global affairs, and Xi visited Moscow last month.
“We Are Ready To Welcome Anything That Could Lead To The Termination Of The Conflict In Ukraine”
The Kremlin gave a lukewarm response to the call between Xi and Zelenskyy. Asked if the call could help end the fighting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “We are ready to welcome anything that could lead to the termination of the conflict in Ukraine and the achievement of all the goals set by Russia.”
Peskov said the conversation between the Chinese and Ukrainian leaders was “the sovereign business of those countries and the issue of their bilateral dialogue.”
With battlefield positions in Ukraine largely static as a war of attrition took hold in recent months, Russian forces have kept up their bombardment of Ukrainian areas, often hitting apartment buildings and other civilian infrastructure.
Meanwhile, The Ukrainian government on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, launched a new initiative meant to streamline and promote innovation in the development of drones and other technologies that have been critical in the war with Russia.
As part of the initiative dubbed BRAVE1, the government hopes to bring state, military, and private sector developers working on defense issues together into a tech cluster that would give Ukraine a battlefield advantage.
“Considering the enemy that is right next to us and its scale, we definitely need to develop the military tech so that we can defend ourselves,” Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, averred.
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