Talk about NATO peacekeepers in Ukraine 'early': Amsterdam
2 Min Read
It seems "early" to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine, but maintaining supplies of weapons to the country is not.
-
Dutch Minister of Defense Kajsa Ollongren
According to the Dutch Minister of Defense, Kajsa Ollongren, it is still "too early" to discuss sending a NATO peacekeeping mission to Ukraine.
When asked to comment on Poland's proposal to send a NATO mission to Ukraine, the Minister said, "It is very difficult to picture a peacekeeping mission there when there is a war."
Ollongren told reporters that "it's very important to continue supplies of weapons, because [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is asking for this and Ukraine has the right to defend itself. Therefore, we, like other countries, will continue to supply weapons."
In parallel, the European Union has agreed to send $500 million worth of aid to Kiev, and Ukraine, nonetheless, still urges the West to boost its military capabilities, calling on the US and Canada for a no-fly zone, in recent days.
According to a White House official, soon after the Ukrainian President addresses the US Congress, Biden is set to announce $800 million in aid to Ukraine Wednesday.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing that the amount would bring the total aid "announced in the last week alone to $1 billion."
The Russian military operation in Ukraine is ongoing, and Russian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Igor Konashenkov announced, on Monday, that 3,920 Ukrainian military facilities have been disabled since the start of the military operation.
The Russian military also downed four Ukrainian drones on Saturday, including one Bayraktar TB2 combat drone, according to the official.
On Saturday, Konashenkov said that Russian combat drones and warplanes targeted 79 assets belonging to the Ukrainian military infrastructure in one day.
Read more: Ukraine losses against Russia could amount to $500bln: Kiev
It is worth mentioning that Konashenkov has also revealed Saturday that a high-precision attack by the Russian Armed Forces in western Ukraine killed up to 180 foreign mercenaries and destroyed huge amounts of foreign weaponry.
The spokesperson declared that the military bases and training grounds included a camp for foreign mercenaries and operated as a depot for weapons brought to Ukraine from its western allies.
