Latest developments:
- French President Emmanuel Macron pledges continued deliveries of ammunition, weapons and armed vehicles in the coming weeks, saying France wants Ukraine’s counteroffensive “to be as successful as possible.”
- Russia-installed official says the death toll in Russia-controlled areas following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine increases to 17.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that the Western military alliance's support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia "is now making a difference on the battlefield" with the start of Kyiv's counteroffensive.
"The offensive is launched, and the Ukrainians are making progress, making advances," Stoltenberg said as he met with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House.
"It's still early days, but what we do know is that the more land the Ukrainians are able to liberate, the stronger hand they will have at the negotiating table," Stoltenberg said, "and also the more likely it will be that [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin at some stage will understand that he will never win this war of aggression on the battlefield."
Biden agreed that NATO's continuing support for Ukraine is making a difference, saying, "NATO allies have never been more united, and we both worked like hell to make sure that happened, and so far, so good. Putin is making a mistake."
Stoltenberg offered his assessment of the now nearly 16-month Russian assault on Ukraine.
"I think you also have to realize that Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine is not only an attack on Ukraine, but also on our core values, and on free people everywhere," he said. "And therefore, President Putin must not win this war, because that will not only be a tragedy for Ukrainians, but also make the world more dangerous."
"It will send a message to authoritarian leaders all over the world, also in China, that when they use military force, they get what they want," the NATO chief said. "And we will then become more vulnerable. So, it's [in] our security interest to support Ukraine."
Ukraine said Monday it had recaptured seven villages since launching the counteroffensive last week with the aim of reclaiming areas occupied by Russian forces.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed confidence that Ukraine will "continue to have success in what they're trying to achieve, which is to take back the land that's been seized from them by Russia."
Blinken told reporters the United States will "continue to maximize our support to Ukraine now" and provide enduring support to help Ukraine deter Russia from invading again in the future.
"It's very important to note that, in terms of what President Putin was trying to achieve in Ukraine, it's already been a strategic failure, because the objective that Putin had — that he stated himself — was to erase Ukraine from the map, to eliminate its independence, and to absorb Ukraine, in one fashion or another, into Russia. That has failed, and it cannot succeed," Blinken said.
Deadly attack on Kryvyi Rih
Ukrainian officials said Tuesday a Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine killed at least 10 people and injured 25 others.
Serhiy Lysak, governor of Dnipropetrovsk region, said Russia destroyed a five-story residential building in the attack and that rescuers were searching through the rubble.
Kryvyi Rih is the birthplace of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who posted on Telegram, "Russian killers continue their war against residential buildings, ordinary cities and people."
"Terrorists will never be forgiven, and they will be held accountable for every missile they launch," Zelenskyy said.
The attack on Kryvyi Rih was part of a wider aerial assault by Russia that also targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the city of Kharkiv.
Ukraine's military said it shot down 10 of 14 cruise missiles launched by Russia, as well as one of four Iranian-made drones used by Russian forces.
Russia's Defense Ministry said Tuesday its forces captured several German-made Leopard tanks and U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles during fighting in southern Ukraine. Russia called the hardware "our trophies" and said they were captured in the Zaporizhzhia area after Ukrainian crews fled.
Black Sea grain deal
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia is thinking about withdrawing from the Black Sea grain deal under which tons of Ukrainian grain have been shipped to other European countries and impoverished nations in Africa.
Putin said that Moscow had been "cheated" over implementation of the parts of the deal that concerned its own exports.
Putin told pro-Kremlin war correspondents that the accord was intended to help "friendly" countries in Africa and Latin America. But he said Europe has turned out to be the largest importer of Ukrainian grain and that this was providing a key source of foreign currency to Kyiv.
Putin said he plans to discuss the future of the grain deal with some African leaders who were expected to visit Russia. Putin said Moscow is ready to supply grain for free to the world's poorest countries.
The deal was brokered last July by the United Nations and Turkey and extended since then, allowing for the safe export of grain from several Ukrainian ports past Russian warships on the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Putin suggested that he could order his troops to try to seize more land in Ukraine to protect Russian territory on the border with Ukraine, where villages have come under attack.
Putin said Ukrainian forces had suffered "catastrophic" losses in their new counteroffensive. He said that Ukraine lost 160 tanks and more than 360 other armored vehicles, while Russia lost only 54 tanks since Kyiv began the new assault in recent days. His claims could not be immediately verified.
Putin said he wasn't contemplating a new mobilization of troops but didn't rule it out.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
