BRUSSELS, November 16. /TASS/. The situation on the battlefield in Ukraine is much more difficult than NATO expected, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted during a press conference in Brussels, acknowledging that Russia started an offensive operation on surrounding Avdeyevka.

"We need to realize that the situation on the battlefield is difficult. Russia does not plan for peace, it plans for more war. We also see that Russia has tried to launch offensive operation around, for instance, Avdeyevka. But the fact that the situation on the battlefield is difficult than hoped, that’s not an argument against support, it’s an argument in favor of more support to Ukraine. Because, again, we cannot allow President Putin to win," Stoltenberg said.

He also opined that Ukraine has "already made big victories" against Russia.

"I am confident that the US will continue to provide support to Ukraine. The message when I travel around in NATO capitals is that allies are ready to sustain and to step up their support. Just over the last days we had new announcements - for instance Germany made a significant announcement of increased support just few days ago," Stoltenberg added.

Since mid-October, Brussels stopped mentioning the "Kiev offensive," and no public conclusions were made from this operation in either NATO or the US.

Earlier, the European Commission announced that European States have already provided an unprecedented amount of aid worth 83 billion euros for Kiev. The US provided Kiev with almost $45 billion in military aid alone.