FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Russia is preparing for a major offensive, with the potential for a breakthrough, on the Ukrainian front line next month when the muddy terrain dries up, according to military analysts. Ukraine's military is in a race against time to build defenses against an advance that could destroy their 1,000 km front line.
There are growing concerns that Kiev's ammunition stockpile is extremely low, without sufficient supplies from European powers. Since November last year, following Ukraine's summer offensive, Russian forces have taken about 505 square kilometers of the country's total 603,000 square km.
Even the mud season known as "rasputitsa" in Russian, or "season of bad roads", has not stopped the Kremlin from pushing forward the infantry who have died by the thousands. But once the mud dries, the main effort is expected to begin with the massing of armor and artillery along the front line. Under these conditions, Ukraine seems aware of its own shortcomings, as well as NATO of the "tasks" and "challenges" that await it.
NATO project
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is considering creating a $100 billion arms fund that would allow it to continue helping Ukraine if former US President Donald Trump is re-elected. writes The Telegraph. If such a fund were to be created, NATO would take control of individual donations from countries supporting Ukraine.
In order to form such a fund, NATO members from Europe will probably have to increase the amount of money and stockpile of weapons they are ready to send to Ukraine. Officials believe that would suit Trump, meaning he would be less angry in that case.
Trump's allies in the US Congress are not allowing US President Joe Biden to send a new aid package to Ukraine, and Trump regularly criticizes NATO members because he believes they don't spend enough money on defense. There are officials who fear that Trump may stop helping Ukraine if he wins the presidential election in November.
"red line"
Some members of the Alliance said that the creation of such a fund would mean crossing a "red line" that some members had not wanted to cross until now. "If we're going to do that, we have to cross the Rubicon, which means NATO will play a role in coordinating the delivery of lethal aid to Ukraine," a senior diplomat said.
If the aforementioned fund is created, NATO commanders will take control of the contact group for Ukraine, which includes more than 50 countries, and coordinate the delivery of weapons to Kiev. This operation is currently run by the Americans.
The fund is seen by many as a "bridge" on the path to Ukraine's entry into NATO, however, US officials said that the fund and the path to Ukraine's membership in the Alliance will not be presented at the meeting of NATO members to be held in Washington this July.
Zelensky's move
Even Zelensky himself is not standing idly by. The Ukrainian president said that Russia plans to mobilize 300,000 additional soldiers to the front line by the beginning of June, writes Newsweek. Zelenskiy's comments came just days after Vladimir Putin began spring conscription, during which 150,000 citizens were called up for military service. Ukraine's military intelligence service has already announced earlier that after the presidential election, in which Putin won more than 87 percent of the vote, they will increase mobilization efforts.
The partial mobilization that took place in the fall of 2022 caused mass protests and hundreds of thousands of potential candidates fled the country to avoid it. Western intelligence has reported that Putin may have avoided another massive recruitment drive to avoid fallout ahead of elections in March. One thing, however, seems clear: This is a new era of warfare, and the next two months are likely to be decisive.
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