Russia lacks troops and ammunition for major offensive in Ukraine – senior NATO official

Russia has neither enough ammunition nor troops to launch a large-scale offensive in Ukraine, a senior NATO official has said.

As reported by Reuters, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stressed that Russia is suffering "very high" losses on the battlefield, struggling to hold on to small territorial gains and is short of troops and ammunition for a large-scale offensive.

"What they are having to do is order undermanned, inexperienced units to move into areas to achieve unrealistic objectives.

To sustain real offensive operations, we think that Russia would have to secure significant ammunition supplies from countries beyond what it is already getting from Iran and from North Korea," the official said.

They also believe that Russian ruler Vladimir Putin will have to initiate a new large-scale mobilisation.

The official said Russia is currently recruiting about 30,000 troops a month, which allows it to absorb heavy battlefield losses.

He also stressed that, based on NATO's estimates, Ukraine's defence has improved significantly, but Kyiv has also suffered significant losses.

The Alliance believes that Russia will be able to maintain its war economy for another 3-4 years.

Nevertheless, they emphasise that "it will be some time" before Ukraine accumulates the required ammunition and personnel for future large-scale offensive operations.

The official further stressed that China is continuing to provide Russia with "critical enabling pieces" for drones, missiles and the Russian defence industry and that Putin "still thinks time is on his side" and is ready to endure "truly staggering numbers of military casualties".

US President Joe Biden stated at the opening of the summit in Washington that Ukraine could still stop Putin.