Ukraine: Russian forces in Ukraine are not withdrawing but regrouping, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday, commenting on Moscow’s announcements about a scaling down of military operations around Kyiv. Stoltenberg also said the alliance is yet to be convinced that Russia was negotiating in good faith in peace talks in Istanbul because Moscow’s military objective since launching its invasion of Ukraine has not changed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s defence against the Russian invasion was at a “turning point” and again pressed the United States for more help, hours after the Kremlin’s forces reneged on a pledge to scale back some of their operations. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy’s adviser has said that Russia has “destroyed practically all of Ukraine’s defence industry”. Ukrainian forces are preparing for new Russian attacks in the east of the country as Moscow builds up its troops there after suffering setbacks near the capital Kyiv, Zelenskyy said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, US officials have said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about the poor performance of his troops in Ukraine. “We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions because his senior advisors are too afraid to tell him the truth,” Kate Bedingfield, White House communications director, told reporters during a press briefing, according to Reuters.