Ukraine girds for another full year of war as NATO chief says ‘the front line has not moved’
‘’: As NATO foreign ministers gather in Brussels, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is urging allies and partners not to lose heart even as months of fierce fighting have failed to produce significant territorial gains for Ukraine.
“Yes, the front line has not moved so much, and of course, we would like them to liberate as much territory as possible as quickly as possible,” Stoltenberg said ahead of today’s ministerial at NATO headquarters. “But even though the front line has not moved, the Ukrainians have been able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian invaders, both measured in personnel and casualties but also in taking out fighting capabilities.”
“We see high casualty numbers. And some of the most intense fighting that we have seen throughout the whole war has actually taken place over the last weeks and couple of months,” Stoltenberg said.
The heaviest fighting has been in eastern Ukraine around the town of Avdiivka, where a firsthand report recorded by a Ukrainian commander and aired on CNN shows the grim reality of trench warfare, where both sides are taking heavy casualties.
“My goal was for people to watch this and know what this war is really like,” Oleh Sentsov told CNN’s Anna Coren. “It's very important to record it so that people know now and know later what a cruel and terrible war it is.”
The gritty video, recorded on a GoPro, shows only Sentsov’s unit surviving an assault by four Russian tanks. “We failed to hold our position and had to retreat,” he told CNN. “We had injuries but survived, but the other two groups were almost completely destroyed.”
According to Ukrainian estimates cited by the British Defense Ministry on social media , Russia is now suffering more than 900 killed and wounded a day, higher than during the bloody “meatgrinder” assault on Bakhmut in March. “The last six weeks have likely seen some of the highest Russian casualty rates of the war so far.”
“Throughout November 2023, Russian casualties, as reported by the Ukrainian General Staff, are running at a daily average of 931 per day,” according to the British intelligence assessment. “Previously, the deadliest reported month for Russia was March 2023 with an average of 776 losses per day, at the height of Russia’s assault on Bakhmut.”
While the U.K. Defense Ministry says it “cannot verify the methodology,” it calls the figures “plausible.”
Nevertheless, Russian President Vladimir Putin seems intent on continuing the fight to hold on to the territory his forces now occupy. “We have seen no sign that President Putin is planning for peace; he is actually planning for more war,” Stoltenberg said.
Ukraine does not release casualty figures for its own forces.
Last week, the German newspaper reported that while expressing full support for Ukraine’s war effort, behind the scenes, the Biden administration is planning to press Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to consider talks with Russia to freeze the war on its current front lines.
In a conference call briefing for reporters ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s arrival in Brussels, James O'Brien, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, denied there would be any effort to force Ukraine to the bargaining table.
“The story I thought was intriguing, but no, there's no U.S. policy. We've always said that this is a matter for Ukraine to decide,” O’Brien said. “We decide nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. And I think the other reality here is we see no indication that Russia is willing to entertain substantive, real peace negotiations.”
“It seems to us President Putin is talking about waiting for at least another year or more before he will contemplate an end to this war,” O’Brien continued. “And it would be pointless to have a discussion on Ukraine's side. It's not a dialogue. It's, you know, a monologue of surrender. So it's nothing that is part of our policy.”
“Our responsibility is to support Ukraine and to enable them to liberate as much land as possible and to put them in the best possible place when or if negotiations may start,” Stoltenberg said at his pre-ministerial news conference.
“Ukraine has recaptured 50% of the territory that Russia seized. It has prevailed as a sovereign, independent nation. This is a big win for Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said. “Meanwhile, Russia is weaker politically, economically, and militarily. Ukraine continues to fight bravely. We continue to support them.
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HAPPENING TODAY: Today’s meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels is scheduled to discuss a number of issues aside from the war in Ukraine, including plans for next July’s NATO summit in Washington and increased tensions in the Western Balkans, where there are concerns that hostility between Serbia and Kosovo could escalate to outright conflict.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has a series of bilateral meetings scheduled with his NATO counterparts, including Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, where the main topic will be the ratification of Sweden’s membership in the alliance.
“Our point to our Turkish allies has been that there's no reason to delay any further,” O’Brien told reporters yesterday. “We anticipate seeing some positive action very soon.”
“We think Sweden's fully capable now of contributing to the alliance. We think it will be a great NATO ally and we expect it to be an ally very soon,” O’Brien said. “Hungary has always said it will not be the last to ratify Sweden's accession to the alliance. And so we'd expect that Hungary will move forward very soon as well.”
Blinken will also be attending the first foreign minister-level meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, a new body created to foster greater cooperation and coordination and help prepare Kyiv for eventual membership.
After his NATO meetings, Blinken is set to travel to Israel and the West Bank, arriving just past the two-day extension of a ceasefire that has been agreed to by Israel and Hamas to allow for the release of 20 more hostages.
Blinken will “discuss Israel’s right to defend itself consistent with international humanitarian law, as well as continued efforts to secure the release of remaining hostages, protect civilian life during Israel’s operations in Gaza, and accelerate humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Last night, Hamas released 11 Israeli hostages, including 3-year-old twins and their mother, but no more Americans have been released, despite hopes that Americans would be part of the last batch of hostages freed under the original four-day truce agreement.
“We think the number is less than ten, probably in the neighborhood of, you know, about eight to nine,” said NSC spokesman John Kirby when asked how many Americans were still being held captive. “But we don't necessarily have firm, solid information on each and every one of them.”
In an interview on Fox later in the day, Kirby said that while the U.S. is pressing for two American women to be included, it is not in control of the process. “The modalities of who's on the list every day ... is something that's drawn up by Hamas and by our Israeli counterparts. We will keep working very, very hard to make sure that the Americans that we know are being held hostage get home to their families, where they belong.”
“Now, it's important to remember ... the only kinds of hostages that Hamas is willing to let go right now are women and children. We think the majority of Americans that are being held hostage are male. So, the chances of them getting out soon are not as good as the chances of getting out ... [the] two American women that are still left to be released.”
“President Biden spoke with the prime minister of Qatar,” Kirby said. “I would have imagined that, in that conversation, he's saying to him, I want those Americans out in this group. We want them out now. That's the priority. Make sure they're on the list.”
The Pentagon is suggesting that the attempted hijacking of a commercial cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden may have been conducted by Somali pirates, not Houthi rebels, as was originally suspected.
The motor vessel was boarded by five armed attackers and put out a distress call. The , along with allied ships from the combined Maritime Forces Counter-Piracy Combined Task Force 151, responded, demanded the ship be released, prompting the hijackers to flee via a small boat.
“The pursued the attackers, resulting in their eventual surrender,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a meeting with reporters .
But Ryder cast doubt on the idea that the failed hijacking was the work of Houthi forces. “On the five-armed individuals, an obvious question is, what is the disposition of those five individuals?” said Ryder. “They're currently aboard the . We're continuing to assess, but initial indications are that these five individuals are Somali. But again, we'll continue to assess that, as well as next steps in terms of the disposition of those five individuals.”
“Clearly, a piracy-related incident in that this vessel was boarded by these five individuals. They attempted to access the crew cabin,” Ryder said. “The crew essentially were able to lock themselves into a safe haven. These individuals attempted to access and take control of the ship. But when the combined task force responded, they essentially fled.”
One reason Houthis were suspected is that shortly after the incident, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward the general location of the and the
“The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately ten nautical miles from the ships,” said Ryder. “It is not clear at this time what they were targeting.”
‘’: In an interview on Newsmax, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) asserted that the U.S. military is in decline because of the woke policies of the Biden administration.
“We've got the weakest military that we've had in probably my lifetime," Tuberville told Newsmax's Eric Bolling. "Infiltrating our military is all this wokeness, and it's coming from the top, coming from Joe Biden, coming from Secretary of Defense [Lloyd] Austin. It's coming from [former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark] Milley, who is recently gone. It's a disaster.”
The comments come as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is working to get the votes to override Tuberville’s hold on more than 350 military nominations and promotions before the Senate takes a holiday break next month.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It seems to us President Putin is talking about waiting for at least another year or more before he will contemplate an end to this war. And it would be pointless to have a discussion on Ukraine's side. It's not a dialogue. It's, you know, a monologue of surrender. So it's nothing that is part of our policy.”
James O'Brien, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, denying a report in the German newspaper that the U.S. wants to force Ukraine to negotiate a peace agreement with Russia.
