Russia-Ukraine war live: Russians hit market in deadly missile attack; Bakhmut holding on despite everything, says Zelenskiy
GuardianNov 02, 2022
The Facts
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has reportedly said that supplying Western tanks to Ukraine, such as the German Leopard or American Abrams, has not been ruled out as a course of action. Stoltenberg also stated that an "increase of arms shipments is the road to peace for the Ukrainians."
Stoltenberg's remarks coincided with the formal signing of a joint declaration by NATO and the EU, committing them to using their partnership to counter Russia's war on Ukraine and to boost security in the broader Euro-Atlantic region.
The Spin
Anti-Russia narrative
As the war shifts to the strategically important Donbas region of Donetsk, the US and its allies need to continue to do everything in their power to arm Ukraine with all the weapons they need. Doing so is the only way to push Putin's forces back as was done in Kyiv.
Pro-Russia narrative
As stated by Putin, the whole purpose of the war was never to invade Kyiv, but to liberate the ethnically Russian people of Donetsk and Luhansk, who have been subjected to systematic killing by Ukrainian forces for not recognizing the 2014 coup in Kyiv.
Establishment-critical narrative
More weapons packages will make little difference in the outcome of the war. The US has been meddling in Ukraine since the end of the Cold War, and what we're witnessing is a geopolitical ponzi scheme to benefit those aligned with the military-industrial complex. War is a lucrative racket.