The United Nations General Assembly will vote on Thursday on a Western project to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council of the international organization due to reports of “gross and systematic violations of human rights” by Russian forces in Ukraine, while the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is likely to continue The war "for months and even years", while Donetsk separatist forces declared the end of fighting in the center of Mariupol.
Western diplomats are confident they have enough support among the General Assembly's 193 members to adopt a resolution to suspend Moscow.
The draft text expresses "grave concern about the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine".
A two-thirds majority of the members of the General Assembly entitled to vote can suspend a country for gross and systematic violations of human rights.
Russia has warned countries that a yes or no vote would be considered an "unfriendly gesture" with consequences for bilateral relations.
Battles in Mariupol
In a new development, a spokesman for the separatist Donetsk forces announced that the battles had ended in the center of Mariupol, and were now concentrated in the Azov Iron Factory.
"We entered the port of Mariupol and we are pushing the Ukrainian forces towards the industrial zone," he added, noting that about 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers are still in Mariupol.
The Russian Defense Ministry had said that its forces would proceed to enter the city of Mariupol after the Ukrainian soldiers refused the Russian deadline to leave the city.
During the past hours, confrontations escalated in Mariupol between the separatist forces in Donetsk backed by the Russian army and the Ukrainian forces, and concentrated in the city center where the separatists and Russian forces are trying to control it.
And the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Russian army had destroyed 5 depots providing fuel for Ukrainian military vehicles in Donbas, in addition to Kharkiv and Mykolaiv, with high-precision missiles launched from the air and land.
The ministry also announced that Russian forces destroyed 24 Ukrainian military sites and shot down 4 drones in the past hours.
On the other hand, CNN quoted a US administration official as saying that the United States will not announce the results of the investigation into the Bucha murders, but will provide information to the Ukrainian authorities.
The US official explained that US intelligence is collecting evidence to identify those involved in Bucha, and that US intelligence is able to identify the Russian units that carried out what he described as the Bucha massacre.
Withdrawal from the vicinity of Kyiv
In terms of field developments in the vicinity of Kyiv, Reuters quoted a senior US military official as saying that the United States estimates that Russia has completed its withdrawal from the Kyiv vicinity, and believes that it is re-equipping its forces and providing them with supplies for an expected redeployment in Ukraine.
The official added that the withdrawal included the departure of the Russian forces from the city of Chernihiv as well, noting that the US assessment was fully within the last 24 hours.
But the official said Kyiv remains under threat even if Russian ground forces leave the area.
He added that the forces leaving the region are heading to Russia and Belarus to regroup, but it is not clear how many forces will eventually be returned to Ukraine.
The war could last for years
On the other hand, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not given up his desire to control all of Ukraine, predicting that the war will continue for "months and even years."
"We have to be realistic, the war could go on for a long time, for months and even years, so we have to be prepared for a long path, in terms of providing support to Ukraine, continuing the sanctions and strengthening our defenses," Stoltenberg said before the meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
For his part, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told a news briefing alongside Stoltenberg, "We will do 3 things if Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine: continue to support the Ukrainians, apply extraordinary pressure on Russia, and strengthen the alliance's defense."
"For every Russian tank sent to Ukraine, we will provide Ukraine with 10 anti-tank weapons," Blinken said in an interview with the US channel "MSNBC" in Brussels.
The United States has allocated an additional $100 million to fund arms purchases for Ukraine.
3 requests to Ukraine
On Thursday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on NATO member states to provide his country with more weapons to fight Russian forces.
"I have come to ask for 3 things: weapons, weapons and then weapons, the sooner we receive them, the more lives will be saved and greater destruction will be avoided," Kuleba said upon his arrival at NATO headquarters in Brussels for a meeting with his counterparts from member states.
"We need planes, armored vehicles and anti-aircraft systems," the Ukrainian minister stressed.
"The best way to help Ukraine right now is to provide it with everything it needs to contain and defeat the Russian army in Ukraine so that the war does not expand further," he added.
For his part, Stoltenberg stated that "Ukraine has the right to defend itself, we will listen to the needs that Dmytro Kuleba will provide, and we will discuss how to respond to them."