The NATO Steadfast Defender exercise is taking place because of the consistent failures of the Ukrainian armed forces on the front line. This was reported by the Chinese newspaper Global Times.
The Global Times reported that the NATO exercises held near the Russian border were the result of numerous failures of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the theatre of war. The source said that the failures of Ukrainian troops are forcing the “initiator of the crisis in Ukraine” to show military pressure on Russia.
“The drills are taking place at a critical moment when the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is moving into its third year and elections are coming up in the US. So far, there are no signs of the conflict easing. As Ukrainian troops fail after failure on the battlefield, the alliance, as the initiator of the crisis, has decided to exert military pressure on Russia,” the material reads.
Senior researcher at the School of Global and Regional Studies at the University of China Renmin Wang Xianzhu suggests that the actions of the North Atlantic Alliance will only provoke a further increase in tensions in Europe, noted in the publication.
“The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for nearly two years, and the international community is in favour of peace. However, NATO is going against the tide, provoking and putting pressure on Russia with large-scale military exercises, which will lead to confrontation around the world,” the newspaper quoted an employee of the research centre as saying.