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  • War in Ukraine Russia launches the final battle for Donbas with the aim of achieving the partition of Ukraine

The West continues to be skeptical of Russian announcements of withdrawal.

Both the United States and NATO believe that Russia is repositioning its troops and concentrating them in Donbas.

The redirection of Russia's military efforts in Donbas could portend

a "longer and more drawn-out conflict"

as Ukrainian forces put up fierce resistance in that eastern region of the country, a senior US defense official said on Thursday.

"They have been fighting for it for eight years now

," the official said of the hotly contested Donbas region.

"

Ukrainians know

the territory very, very well," he

added.

"They still have a lot of strength there and they are fighting very hard for that area," he said.

"Just because (the Russians) prioritize it and deploy more troops or energy there, that doesn't mean it will be easy for them," the official said.

"It could be the harbinger of a longer, more extensive conflict, as the Russians try to gain some influence, make some progress and maybe even

get some chips on the negotiating table,

" he surmised.

The secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, spoke along the same lines this morning, assuring that Russia had lied about its announcement of the withdrawal of

troops from the siege of Kiev and northern Ukraine.

"Russia has repeatedly lied about its intentions, so we can only judge Russia by its actions, not by its words.

According to our intelligence, Russian units are not withdrawing, but repositioning

," the Norwegian politician said during a press conference. to present the annual report on NATO activities.

He added that Moscow "is trying to regroup, resupply and strengthen its offensive in the Donbas region."

"At the same time, Russia is keeping pressure on Kiev and other cities, so we can

expect additional offensive actions that will bring even more suffering

. Russia must end this senseless war, withdraw all its troops and engage in talks in good faith," he said.

Regarding the negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations taking place in Turkey, sponsored by that NATO member, Stoltenberg praised "all the efforts to put an end to this brutal and senseless war."

But at the same time, he admitted that the

Kremlin "continues to pursue a military outcome to the conflict"

.

"Liberate the Donbas"

Sergei Rudskoi, Russia's top military commander, said last week that the first phase of the campaign in Ukraine was over and that the troops would concentrate on "the main goal: the liberation of Donbas," where the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk were declared. .

The US Pentagon official also said the Russian military was continuing to reposition forces around kyiv after failing to capture it.

"Obviously they are making decisions to alter their goals and objectives

," he said.

He also said fighting continues in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol and in Kharkov to the east, but the Russians are not getting "great results."

"We think one of the reasons they love Mariupol so much is that they can move north from there," he said.

"The Ukrainians are fighting very, very hard inside the city," he said.

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