NATO: Ukraine has the right to liberate its land

2023-06-19 19:10:33, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, said today in Berlin that Ukraine has the right to liberate its land. Mr. Stoltenberg made the comments while meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Meanwhile, today Ukraine announced that Russian forces have been expelled from eight villages, in its two-week counteroffensive to liberate territories occupied by Moscow.

The leader of the largest military alliance in the world, Jens Stoltenberg, said today that the liberated lands put Ukraine in a more favorable position at the table of possible negotiations for the end of the war.

"Ukraine has the right to liberate its land and now it is launching a counterattack. We all want this war to end, but a just peace does not mean freezing the conflict and accepting an agreement dictated by Russia", said the NATO Secretary General in Berlin, during discussions with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on preparations for a NATO high-level meeting in Vilnius.

The Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense, Hanna Maliar, said today that during the last two weeks, Ukrainian forces have regained control of eight villages, including Pyatkatki in the Zaporizhia region.

Kiev says that since the start of the counteroffensive, Ukrainian troops have liberated 113 square kilometers of territory occupied by Kremlin forces.

" The terrorist country's only concern should be preparing Russian society for the fact that they will lose everything, destroying the future of their country. Russia will lose the occupied territories. There is and will be no other alternative ," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Sunday.

Soldiers on the battlefield say their morale is high.

"We are moving forward with all our capacity. We have an order not to retreat, but to advance," says a Ukrainian soldier known as the violinist.

"We want to liberate Crimea and Donbas and make them pay for every one killed. Even if we win, the battle is not over," says a war commander known by the nickname Lermontov.

Russian officials said shelling in Russia's Belgorod region, which is near the border with Ukraine, wounded seven civilians.

The British Ministry of Defense said in its latest assessment that Russia is likely to redeploy thousands of troops from the eastern banks of the Dnipro River to serve as reinforcements for Russian forces in the Bakhmut and Zaporizhia areas.

British officials said the move may reflect Russia's perception that after the collapse of the Kakhovka Dam and deadly floods, Ukraine is less likely to mount a major offensive along the Dnipro River./ VOA