Ukraine: NATO says Russia does not have the capacity to make a strategic advance

The Supreme Commander of the Alliance for Europe (SACEUR), US General Christopher G. Cavoli, stated this Thursday that Russia does not have the necessary capacity and ability to carry out strategic advances in Ukraine after the latest Russian offensives against the Kharkiv region.

“The Russians do not have the numbers necessary to make a strategic advance. We do not believe they have the ability and capacity to operate at the scale necessary to exploit any advance for strategic advantage.“, Cavoli said in a press conference at the end of a meeting of the Alliance’s Military Committee.

However, he acknowledged that the russian troops Yeah “They have the capacity to make local advances and they have done some of that“, like “They have also made some local losses”.

Worsening at the front

During the meeting, the defense chiefs of the allied countries heard first-hand from their Ukrainian counterpart the situation on the front, which, given its worsening in recent days, has forced the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyto suspend various trips he had planned abroad.

“I have been in close contact with our Ukrainian colleagues and I trust that they will maintain the positions”Cavoli noted.

According to the president of the Military Committee of the NATOAdmiral Rob Bauer, “Basically, the situation has not changed to the point that Ukraine or the authorities are willing to sit down and start negotiating”.

Complications to recover ground

He acknowledged that “it will not be easy” for Ukraine recover the lands occupied by Russiabut not for the Russian forces either “what the Ukrainian armed forces took from them” since they began their counteroffensive a year ago, during which time they have retook 50% of the territory they Moscow took at the beginning of the war.

“It is not a strategic advantage, it is not strategic successes“said the Dutch soldier, who also referred to today’s meeting with the Russian president, Vladimir Putinin Beijing with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and assured that the meeting “It’s not a reason why things have changed in Ukraine”.

The long-awaited summer offensive

Cavoli admitted that “You never know with certainty what an opponent is going to do or what he intends to do.”, and that they cannot determine whether the Russian movements are part of their expected summer offensive.

In any case, he said that they have not seen that Russia is generating a large number of reserves and that the semi-annual call-up that it is carrying out is not related to the conflict.

Russia improves its logistics but not the quality of its soldiers

Bauer acknowledged that the Russians have improved their logistics since the war began, but that they still have a “big problem” when it comes to the quality of soldiers, since the younger ones can no longer be trained by more experienced officers who died on the battlefield.

The admiral stressed that there is practical help “on way to Ukraine” and that today various allied defense chiefs spoke that deliveries are expected “in a matter of days or a week.”