NATO’s Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana urged member nations at a gathering of NATO chiefs to expand the support being sent to Ukraine. Geoana said, “We must be prepared for the long haul. 2023 will be a difficult year and we need to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.†AP News is also reporting that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia still intends to accomplish its goals in Ukraine despite a “hybrid war†waged by the West against Russia. The goals listed by Lavrov are to “demilitarize†and “denazify†Ukraine, prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, and to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine.
