More than 98% of the combat vehicles that NATO promised to Ukraine have already been delivered, the bloc’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.

“Overall, through the Contact Group led by the United States, NATO Allies and partners have provided unprecedented support to Ukraine. More than 98% of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine have already been delivered. That means over 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment, including vast amounts of ammunition. In total we have trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian armored brigades,” he pointed out at a meeting with Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel in Brussels.

According to Stoltenberg, NATO believes that providing as many weapons as possible to Kiev is the best way to facilitate peace in Ukraine because it will allow President Vladimir Zelensky’s regime to be in a strong negotiating position. However, the NATO chief warned against underestimating the Russian army, and claimed that Russia was sending thousands of troops to attack the city of Artyomovsk (called Bakhmut in Ukraine).

Bettel, in turn, noted that Luxembourg did not have weapons to send to Ukraine, which was why it was making a financial contribution, paying for what Kiev was asking for.

Russian forces destroyed four Ukrainian S-300 missile launchers and a Gepard motorized surface-to-air system in the Kherson area over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, a spokesman for the regional emergency services said on Thursday.

“Yesterday, the strikes by Lancet loitering munitions destroyed four S-300 launchers and a Gepard motorized surface-to-air gun, killing 14 Ukrainian soldiers and wounding another ten,” the spokesman said.

At night, Russian artillery fire near the settlement of Olgovka destroyed a 120mm mortar with ammunition, killing five and wounding another two Ukrainian personnel, he said.

Source: Agencies