Nuland: Russia under heavy losses in Ukraine

I think, unfortunately, the Russians have not yet fully understood how strong Ukrainian Army” is, US Deputy Secretary of State Vicoria Nuland said, during an interview for Time Current.

Russia's “Pala is undergoing huge losses and, according to our estimates, there are over 10,000 Russians dead”, Nuland said.

Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, Russia has only given figures twice as far as soldiers have been killed. The figures presented by Russia have been lower compared to the estimates presented by the West and Ukraine.

On March 2nd, Russia's Defence Ministry had said 498 soldiers were killed, already on March 25th, it reported 1,351 Russian soldiers killed. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have said the number of murdered Russian soldiers is over 17,000.

The figures presented by Russia and Ukraine are impossible to confirm independently.

Nuland said the United States has welcomed the round of Ukraine-Russia talks, which was held on March 29th in Istanbul, but stressed that without the prevention of hostilities, no serious negotiations can be held.

“Until there is a real ceasefire, I don't think we will see serious talks”, she said.

Nuland said Moscow's decision to reposition its forces, as Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexandr Fomin announced on March 29th, was the “direct result of the strong resistance Ukrainians are making outside Kiev and in Chernihiv”.

“However, we know this is only the reposition of Russian forces and they will go to other parts of Ukraine and continue to bomb Herson's Mariulo and other parts of the country”, she said.

“Diplomatic conflict solutions usually come after a ceasefire, not amid fighting. And the Russians have absolutely not been ready to have a full ceasefire so that negotiations can become serious”, Nuland said, adding that anyone negotiating the end of the conflict must ensure that Ukraine will be able in the future to prevent the repeat aggression.

Therefore, Ukraine will need some kind of security support for its arsenal that had to be used in this conflict, if it needs to stop Russia from trying again. Therefore, we will continue, together with our allies and partners, to offer strong security support to Ukraine”.

Asked whether the West would respond to Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky's request for air protection systems from states that have been part of the Soviet Union, Nuland said, without giving any details, that “confirms that we are looking into this and that we have only provided significant support to the defence systems for Ukraine”.

She also warned that if Russia does not prevent its aggression against Ukraine, it risks facing more sanctions from the West.

“As long as the war continues, we and our allies and partners plan to increase pressure on [Russian president Vladimir] Putin and his government on a weekly basis and will deny him the money he needs for his” war machine, Nuland said. / REL