Ukraine pleads for more ammo as their burn rate for using it has the West falling behind is supply it…
Politico reports the US /NATO is trying to get the Ukraine soliders to slow the usage of Ammo…
The Russian’s ARE stressing the Ukraine and the West with its expendure of solider lives vs ammo….
Moldova IS nervous….Worried about Putinhaving them on the list as next?
Is the Ukraine withdrawing from Bakhmut?
The Ukraine wants to be able to export more grain….
Turkey still holding up Sewden’s NATO entre….
Dutch F-35’s escort Russian reconnaissance aircraft and two fighter aircraft away from Polish airspace….
Here’s what we know:
Ukrainian officials have said they urgently need more ammunition as Russia makes grinding gains in the east, where its forces have been slowly encircling Bakhmut.
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Ukraine steps up efforts to get civilians out of Bakhmut, in a further sign of a potential retreat.
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Western allies will support Ukraine in a spring offensive against Russia, Austin says.
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Austin vows allies will get more ammunition to Ukraine ‘as quickly as possible.’
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Moldova briefly closed its air space, raising tensions in a country shaken by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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Ukraine wants bigger cargo ships for grain as a backlog grows longer.
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Sweden and Finland’s applications to join NATO could be separated, Stoltenberg suggests….
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
- Washington and allies have “a lot to get done” to position Ukrainian troops to use advanced weapon systems promised by the West ahead of Russia’s offensive, Austin said. “It’s a monumental task to bring all those systems together, get the troops trained on those platforms, make sure we have sustainment for all those systems and get those systems into the fight,” he said at a news briefing Tuesday.
- Norway will provide eight Leopard tanks to Ukraine, joining other European nations that have pledged to send tanks from their stocks to the battlefield. Norwegian public broadcaster NRK said the country’s defense minister made the announcement during the NATO meeting.
- Sending fighter jets to Ukraine “is not the most urgent issue now, but it is an ongoing discussion,” Stoltenberg told reporters. Kyiv has pushed for Western allies to send the jets, which it says will help it turn the tide of the war. But Austin said allies’ focus is on supplying and training Ukrainian troops on weapon systems already pledged.
- The NATO chief also raised concerns that Western ammunition stocks are being depleted. “The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of ammunition,” Stoltenberg said, adding that Tuesday’s meeting would look at how to “strengthen our defense industry.” Austin said the United States and its partners are doing “everything we can” to give Ukraine “as much ammunition as quickly as possible.” Once Ukrainian troops are trained on more complex battlefield maneuvers, they may require less artillery munitions, he added.
- Moldovan President Maia Sandu accused Russia of plotting a coup in her country to install a pro-Kremlin administration and put the Eastern European nation at the disposal of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, citing intelligence provided by neighboring Ukraine. The alleged plot involved sending agents to “undertake violent action, carry out attacks on buildings of state institutions or even take hostages,” she said. The country briefly closed its airspace on Tuesday for unspecified reasons.
- Dutch fighter jets intercepted three Russian military aircraft near Poland, the Netherlands’ defense ministry said late Monday. The Russian aircraft approached Poland airspace from Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania, the ministry said. Two Dutch F-35s, which are housed in Poland, escorted the planes — one reconnaissance aircraft and two fighter aircraft — out of the area.
- The eastern city of Bakhmut is still seeing heavy fighting — and it’s too late to begin celebrating a Russian victory, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, said in a statement published by a Wagner-linked Telegram channel on Tuesday. Ukrainian forces are “stepping up” and sending in reserves, he said, especially in the north, where the heaviest fighting is taking place. He denied reports that Russian fighters had encircled the city. “Bakhmut will not be taken tomorrow, because there is heavy resistance and grinding, the meat grinder is working,” he said. “There will not be a holiday anytime soon.”
- Biden officials say recent aid packages from Congress and allies are Kyiv’s best chance to change the course of the war, The Post reported. U.S. officials are telling Ukrainian leaders they face a critical moment, raising the pressure on Kyiv to make gains on the battlefield while weapons and aid from the United States and its allies are surging. Many conservatives in the Republican-led House have vowed to pull back support….