Ukrainian soldiers load grenades into a tank on Tuesday.
(Photo: dpa)
Kyiv According to the US government, Ukraine has all the necessary resources to recapture areas occupied by Russia in a counter-offensive. “They have everything they need to be successful in retaking territories that Russia has seized by force over the past 14 months,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news conference with his British counterpart James Cleverly on Tuesday in Washington.
The US government had previously announced additional military support for Ukraine worth 1.2 billion US dollars (around 1.1 billion euros). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressly welcomed the new aid package.
“I thank President (Joe) Biden, Congress – bipartisan – and every American family for their continued support and for the American strength that makes us stronger,” Zelenski said Tuesday in his nightly video address.
The new US aid is intended in particular to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses and saturate the need for ammunition, the US State Department said. The US is also sending additional artillery shells and support for the maintenance of existing weapon systems.
The United States is considered Ukraine’s most important ally in the defense against the Russian invasion. According to the Department of Defense, the United States has contributed more than $36.9 billion in military aid since the beginning of the war.
Ukrainian foreign minister dampens offensive expectations
According to General Inspector Carsten Breuer, Ukraine is making progress with preparations for a counter-offensive. “I was explained how the fight is fought on the front lines. The ground is still muddy and damp. There are still large lakes in some of the fields. The conditions for a comprehensive offensive were not yet in place in the last few weeks,” said Breuer of the German Press Agency.
“But it has become clear to me in all talks that plans for the Ukrainian offensive are underway.” The highest-ranking German soldier had been to Ukraine last week and had met Army Chief Valeriy Saluschnyi and Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov there.
However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warns against too high expectations of the expected spring offensive. “Don’t think of this counter-offensive as the last, because we don’t know what will come of it,” he told the “Bild” newspaper (Wednesday). Only if this offensive succeeds in liberating the Russian-occupied areas will it be the last. “But if not, then that means we need to prepare for the next counter-offensive.”
Ammunition deliveries: EU Parliament votes for emergency procedure
The European Parliament will deal with a plan for significantly more ammunition supplies to Ukraine in an emergency procedure. Negotiations on the details of the project with the EU states should be able to begin as early as June, as Parliament announced on Tuesday.
Last week, the EU Commission presented proposals according to which the European armaments industry should be encouraged to rapidly expand production capacities with financial incentives running into the billions. The reason for this is in particular the difficulties of the EU states in supplying Ukraine with sufficient ammunition for the defensive war against Russia.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine continues to be fierce
Ukrainian defenders and Russian attackers engaged in heavy fighting again in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday. The center of events was once again the city of Bakhmut, which had been heavily fought over for months, as the Ukrainian general staff announced in its evening situation report.
In addition to Bakhmut, Russian troops also advanced at Liman, Avdiivka and Marjinka. A total of around 30 attacks had been repulsed there in the past few hours.
As the French news agency AFP announced on Tuesday, its video journalist Arman Soldin was killed in a rocket attack near Bakhmut in the afternoon. French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter that the pain of Soldin’s relatives and colleagues was shared. “From the first hours of the conflict, he was at the front to establish facts. To inform us.”
According to Reporters Without Borders, six journalists were killed in Ukraine last year, and this year another reporter died there before Soldin.
This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:
Von der Leyen draws a positive conclusion after talks in Kiev
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen drew a positive conclusion from her recent trip to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. On the return trip, she said, there had been detailed talks about the progress and the work still to be done on the start of EU accession negotiations. After this visit, she was more impressed than ever by the determination of the Ukrainians.
During her visit to Kiev, von der Leyen met President Selenski and Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal, among others. According to you, the EU Commission will verbally submit an initial assessment of Ukraine’s current reform efforts to the Council of Member States as early as June.
A written report should then be available in October, on the basis of which a decision on the start of accession negotiations should be made. Ukraine has officially been a candidate for EU membership since last summer.
That will be important on Wednesday
Heavy fighting is expected to continue in eastern Ukraine, especially around the town of Bakhmut.
More: Current news on the development of the Ukraine war can be found in our news blog