Ukraine's Counteroffensive Is 'Critical' Point in Conflict—NATO

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has described the high stakes of Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russia.

Stoltenberg told a press conference at NATO's headquarters in Brussels on Thursday that the long-awaited push by Kyiv to recapture Russian-occupied territory was is in its "early days but we also see that Ukraine is making gains."

Last week, Ukraine launched its counteroffensive aimed at recapturing Russian-occupied territory. Kyiv has said it has made gains in the push in the direction of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts and other areas. The extent of Western military help for Kyiv means that much is riding on the operations.

"We do not know if this will be a turning point of the war, but we see that the Ukrainians are making advances and liberating more land," Stoltenberg said ahead of a meeting of alliance defense ministers preceding a NATO summit in July.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that Kyiv's forces had made small advances in Bakhmut, in the Donetsk oblast, as well as gains in Zaporizhzhia during the counteroffensive which is in three directions. This week, Ukraine's forces touted the recapture of settlements from Russia.

Stoltenberg said the war had reached a "critical time" and that the alliance would have to continue with its military support for Kyiv "if we want a just and enduring peace."

He also described nuclear threats that Russia has made during the war as "reckless and dangerous." Newsweek has emailed the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

Stoltenberg said that defense ministers would likely agree "new capability targets" to ensure Kyiv gets the ammunition it needs to fight Russian aggression, adding that "Ukraine needs many different types of support."

Over the war, NATO members have incrementally stepped up military support to Kyiv, including U.S.-made HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), Leopard and Challenger 2 tanks, and most recently, the green light from President Joe Biden for allies to supply F-16 fighter jets.

Former NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller recently told Newsweek that alliance members had "banded together" to provide weapons to Kyiv under a NATO aegis that Ukraine could use straight away.

"It was very important that the former Warsaw Pact members of NATO supplied Ukraine at the outset of the war a great deal of Warsaw Pact-era equipment the Ukrainians were very familiar with and could put immediately into the fight."

"It's gone from things that can be put into the Ukrainian hands for the immediate fight to more and more sophisticated systems over time," she added.

Meanwhile, Stoltenberg said on Thursday that he expected alliance members would continue their defense spending pledges, although this would not likely be agreed until the alliance's summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11 and 12.

That summit will also see the alliance draw up its first in-depth plans for a direct conflict with Moscow since the end of the Cold War. "We'll definitely be ready to stand up to Russian aggression, should it occur," said Gottemoeller.