NATO ambassador: Ukraine and Russia are like two tired boxers right now

Estonia's ambassador to NATO Jüri Luik compared the current situation in the war between Russia and Ukraine to that of two tired boxers, neither of whom can make a decisive breakthrough. At the same time, Luik stressed that holding the current frontline is not guaranteed for Ukraine and that urgent Western assistance is needed.
"The current situation is, as an American general said to me, that both sides are like two tired boxers who occasionally throw a punch in each other's direction. However, both are tired and neither can make any decisive breakthrough," Luik said.
"But the truth is that holding the frontline as it stands is not guaranteed for the Ukrainians either. It is very important that these packages to help the Ukrainians, these arms packages, find a solution in the U.S. Congress as soon as possible. It is clear that the strategy the Ukrainians have implemented has worked in part – Ukraine has managed to keep a very large part of its territory clear, but there is no sign at the moment of a decisive breakthrough on the line where the two forces are currently facing each other. And it is quite clear that some kind of new strategy is needed here," Luik said.
According to Luik, Ukraine has been very effective in delivering strategic blows to Russia.
"Ukraine is very operational and very professional, if we talk about strikes of strategic importance, like the taking down of the A-50 spy plane or keeping the Black Sea clear. These are key steps that will give Ukraine great strategic success. In order to detect targets on Ukrainian territory, this A-50 reconnaissance aircraft is needed. Unless this aircraft can fly close enough to the Ukrainian border, it will not be possible to detect those targets at a particularly strategic range. In this sense, Ukraine has been very effective," said Luik.
Luik highlighted the size of the Russian army as a problem, which makes Russia stronger than Ukraine. "Here it is very important that Ukraine has its own artillery to counter. And here we come back to the aid packages," Luik said.
For Ukraine to be able to make breakthroughs on the front line, Luik said it needs to be equipped with qualitatively different weaponry than that which has been provided so far. "The question is, for example, which missiles will be provided with their F-16s? It's about long-range strategic strikes. There has to be a completely new qualitative approach if we want a breakthrough," Luik stressed.
Luik refrained from saying that the U.S. aid package to Ukraine was specifically down to Donald Trump, but that it was an issue related to domestic U.S. politics.
"The situation that has arisen, which is very unfortunate, is that aid to Ukraine has remained more of an issue for the Democrats and the administration, and there are very many among the Republicans who are critical. We have now reached a situation where around 50 percent of Republican voters think that too much aid is being given to Ukraine. This problem is getting worse as we get closer to the election," Luik said.
"I think we need to be tough here, because there are still months to go until the election and we're
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Editor: Michael Cole