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The Secretary-General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, says he is counting on the Ukrainian armed forces to make advances, but warned that it might take some time.
Stoltenberg said providing support to Kyiv was the only way to ensure that Ukraine remained a sovereign and democratic state — and convince Russian President Vladimir Putin that he could not win on the battlefield.
“We need to be prepared for [the] long haul. Wars are, by nature, unpredictable,” Stoltenberg told the DPA news agency while visiting Berlin.
“What we do know is that what happens around a negotiating table is inextricably linked to the situation on the battlefield,” he said.
The fighting in Ukraine is still concentrated around the east and south.
Progress has been limited since Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive earlier this year.
Stoltenberg said it had always been clear that it would not be easy for Ukraine to win back all of its territory.
“We knew that Russia has prepared defensive lines for months — with mines, with tank trenches, with a lot of defensive positions.”
Nevertheless, the Ukrainians “have been able to make gains and to liberate more territory,” he said.
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