BERLIN

Russia has suffered a major “strategic defeat” in the Ukraine war, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.

Speaking to German media, Stoltenberg said Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to achieve its goal to prevent Ukraine from coming closer to Europe.

“Putin wants a Europe in which Russia can dominate its neighbors. But Ukraine is now closer than ever before to NATO and the EU. This is a major strategic defeat for Russia,” he told German news agency dpa.

“President Putin has lost Ukraine forever. In addition, Russia has lost hundreds of aircraft, thousands of tanks, and 300,000 soldiers have been killed or wounded,” he claimed.

Stoltenberg acknowledged that the Ukrainian army’s counteroffensive has failed to deliver its expected results, but underlined that Western nations will continue to support Ukraine.

“When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, most experts feared that Russians would take control of Kiev within days – including experts here at NATO. Since then, the Ukrainians managed to liberate 50% of the territory which was occupied,” he said.

“Ukrainians have won major battles in Kiev, Kharkiv and Kherson – these are remarkable military victories. Ukraine has asserted itself as a sovereign, independent state, and inflicted heavy losses on Russia in the process,” Stoltenberg said.