NATO chief chides members as Ukraine’s allies say slow arms deliveries have helped Russia

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — NATO countries haven’t delivered what they promised to Ukraine in time, the alliance’s chief said Monday, allowing Russia to press its advantage while Kyiv’s depleted forces wait for military supplies to arrive from the U.S. and Europe.

"Serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield” for Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference in Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Outgunned, Ukraine’s troops have struggled to fend off Russian advances on the battlefield. They were recently compelled to make a tactical retreat from three villages in the east, where the Kremlin's forces have been making incremental gains, Ukraine's army chief said Sunday. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Monday its forces had also taken the village of Semenivka.

“The lack of ammunition has allowed the Russians to push forward along the front line. Lack of air defense has made it possible for more Russian missiles to hit their targets, and the lack of deep strike capabilities has made it possible for the Russians to concentrate more forces,” Stoltenberg said.

Kyiv’s Western partners have repeatedly vowed to stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes.” But vital U.S. military help was held up for six months by political differences in Washington, and Europe’s military hardware production has not kept up with demand. Ukraine’s own manufacturing of heavy weapons is only now starting to gain traction.

Now, Ukraine and its Western partners are racing to deploy critical new military aid that can help check the slow and costly but steady Russian advance across eastern areas, as well as thwart drone and missile attacks.

Zelenskyy said new Western supplies have started arriving, but slowly. "This process must be speeded up,” he said at the news conference with Stoltenberg.

Though the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line has shifted little since early in the war, the Kremlin’s forces in recent weeks have edged forward, especially in the Donetsk region, with sheer numbers and massive firepower used to bludgeon defensive positions.

Russia also continues to launch missiles, drones and bombs at cities across Ukraine. At least four people were killed and 27 injured in a Russian missile strike on residential buildings and “civil infrastructure” in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa on Monday, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on the Telegram messaging site.

A turreted Gothic-style building known locally as the “Harry Potter Castle,” was seen in flames after the strike.

Russia is a far bigger country than Ukraine, with greater resources. It has also received weapons support from Iran and North Korea, the U.S. government says.

Drawn-out Ukrainian efforts to mobilize more troops, and the belated building of battlefield fortifications, are other factors undermining Ukraine’s war effort, military analysts say.

Nick Reynolds, a research fellow for land warfare at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said the war “is still largely an artillery duel.”

He said he did not expect to see major movement of the front lines in the near term, but that “the conditions are being set for which side has military advantage at the front line. The Russian military is in a better position at the moment.

“When we see one side or the other being in a position to move the front line, at some stage, maneuver will be restored to the battlefield. Not in the next few weeks, maybe not even in the next few months. But it will happen,” he told The Associated Press.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh, at a briefing with reporters Monday, also acknowledged Russia’s recent battlefield gains, noting that a delay in congressional approval for additional spending “set the Ukrainians back.”

NATO chief Stoltenberg, however, said more weapons and ammunition for Ukraine are on the way, including Patriot missile systems to defend against heavy Russian barrages that smash into the power grid and urban areas.

Ukrainian officials say Russia is assembling forces for a major summer offensive, even if its troops are making only incremental gains at the moment.

“Russian forces remain unlikely to achieve a deeper operationally significant penetration in the area in the near term,” the Institute for the Study of War said in an assessment Sunday.

Even so, the Kremlin’s forces are closing in on the strategically important hilltop town of Chasiv Yar, whose capture would be an important step forward into the Donetsk region.

Donetsk and Luhansk form much of the industrial Donbas region, which has been gripped by separatist fighting since 2014, and which Putin has set as a primary objective of the Russian invasion. Russia illegally annexed areas of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions in September 2022.

In other developments, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh made an unannounced visit to Ukraine – the first British royal to travel to the country since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Buckingham Palace said Monday that Sophie, wife of Prince Edward, met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska in Kyiv and delivered a message on behalf of King Charles III. It did not disclose the timing or details of the visit.

The palace said Sophie, 59, made the trip “to demonstrate solidarity with the women, men and children impacted by the war and in a continuation of her work to champion survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.”

Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed reporting.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Britain's Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, visits a photo exhibition dedicated to the sacrifices of the Russian occupation of the town in Saint Andrew's Church in Bucha, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

Britain's Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, visits the Romanivska Bridge in the town of Irpin, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

Britain's Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, visits the Family center of the NGO "Save Ukraine" in the town of Irpin, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

Britain's Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, visits Saint Andrew's Church in the town of Bucha, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

Britain's Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, meets with children as she visits the Family center of the NGO "Save Ukraine" in the town of Irpin, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

Britain's Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, meets with children as she visits the Family center of the NGO "Save Ukraine" in the town of Irpin, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

Britain's Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, and the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Ukraine Martin Harris, right, visit the memorial to the victims of the Russian occupation in the town of Bucha, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

Britain's Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, visits the memorial to the victims of the Russian occupation in the town of Bucha, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

In this photo provided by the Odesa Regional Administration, city officials examine a fragment of a missile after the Russian missile attack that killed several people, and wounded multiple others in Odessa, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Odesa Regional Administration via AP)

A building of the Odessa Law Academy is on fire after a Russian missile attack in Odessa, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Victor Sajenko)

Britain's Duchess of Edinburgh Sophie, right, with the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska visit the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Monday April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

Britain's Duchess of Edinburgh Sophie, center, visits the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Monday April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

Britain's Duchess of Edinburgh Sophie, second right, the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, right, and Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Ukraine, Martin Harris visit the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Monday April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

Britain's Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, second right, and Martin Harris, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Ukraine, right, visit the UNFPA office in Kyiv to meet with war victims, Monday April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

Britain's Duchess of Edinburgh Sophie, left, with the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska visit the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Monday April 29, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/Pool via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center right, talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, centre left, during their meeting in Kyiv Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Two women walk along a street in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A woman sells toys in front of a building with windows protected by sandbags in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg talks during his joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg talks during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg walk before their press conference in Kyiv Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Even though the Super Bowl rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will not occur until almost the midpoint of the season, NFL fans will be treated to a pair of playoff rematches on the opening weekend.

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs begin their quest for an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl title when they host the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 5 in the Kickoff Game while the Los Angeles Rams are at the Detroit Lions in the Sunday night game on Sept. 8.

The two playoff rematches on Week 1 are among nine on this year's regular schedule, which was released by the league Wednesday night.

The Ravens-Chiefs matchup is a rematch of last season's AFC championship game, won by Kansas City 17-10. Kansas City heads to San Francisco in Oct. 20, after it defeated the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in the second overtime game in Super Bowl history. It also marks the second straight season the Chiefs will have a Super Bowl rematch after they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in a Monday night game last season.

Kansas City will then travel to Buffalo on Nov. 17 in what is becoming a yearly matchup. This will be the fifth straight year the two teams have faced off in the regular season. The Bills have won three straight in the regular season but the Chiefs have won all three in the playoffs.

The Rams' Matthew Stafford and Detroit's Jared Goff will face their former teams for the third time, including the playoffs. The Lions won their first playoff game in 32 years when they defeated the Rams 24-23 in an NFC wild-card round game.

Goff recently agreed to a four-year, $212 million contract extension.

The rematch of the NFC championship game between the 49ers and Lions won't happen until Dec. 30 in San Francisco, which is the last Monday night game of the season.

After the Rams game, the Lions host Tampa Bay on Sept. 15 in a rematch of a divisional round game won by Detroit.

The other playoff rematches are Baltimore at Houston on Christmas Day, Philadelphia at Tampa Bay on Sept. 29 and San Francisco at Green Bay on Nov. 24.

The NFL released the full slate for its 105th season after revealing four international games and both of its Christmas Day matchups earlier Wednesday. The schedule has been released the past couple of years on the second Thursday in May, but was slightly delayed this year.

Even though a memo was sent to teams late last week saying the schedule would be released Wednesday night, it wasn't until Monday morning that it was finalized.

Hans Schroeder, the executive vice president of NFL Media, said there were meetings over the weekend to tweak things.

Five quarterbacks going in the first round of the draft impacted some of the final decisions.

“We were getting really close at the end of last week and had something we were really happy with Friday,” Schroeder said. “We had a four-hour zoom on Sunday night and had the final winner. It was very similar to Friday but a couple things we liked better. We used every minute to continue to refine it.”

Among other highlights:

Kirk Cousins' first game with the Atlanta Falcons will be at home on Sept. 8 when they host Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million deal with the Falcons during the offseason.

Wilson is making his Steelers' debut after being released by Denver. It will also mark the return of Arthur Smith, who is the Steelers offensive coordinator after being fired as Falcons coach.

Caleb Williams, the top overall pick by Chicago in last month's draft, will make his Bears debut against Tennessee. Chicago then goes to Houston for a Sunday night game on Sept. 15 against the Texans and reigning AP Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud.

“That's the beauty of where this league is right now. Here they are. That's the way this league turns quickly if you get the right pieces in place,” NBC's Mike Tirico said on the NFL Network schedule release show about Houston.

The top two picks in the draft could meet on Oct. 27 in Washington when the Bears face the Commanders and Jayden Daniels.

Including the Kickoff Game, “Thursday Night Football” and Thanksgiving, 12 teams will be playing multiple Thursday games.

The league amended its policy last season where teams could make more than one appearance on Thursday nights.

Six teams — the Jaguars, Titans, Colts, Cardinals, Panthers and Chargers — will not have the short Sunday to Thursday turnaround.

Aaron Rodgers will be facing a familiar opponent, albeit in a different uniform and in a new location.

Rodgers and the New York Jets will kick off this year's games in London when they are the visiting team against the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 6.

Rodgers went 17-11-1 against the Vikings when he was with the Green Bay Packers. The four-time NFL MVP was traded to the Jets last year, but tore his left Achilles tendon on the first series of last year's opener against the Buffalo Bills.

Rodgers is on track to return to practice without limitations once the Jets begin voluntary spring sessions next week. The league announced Tuesday that the Jets would open the season on “Monday Night Football” at NFC champion San Francisco on Sept. 9.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will spend back-to-back weeks in London for the second straight year and face two of this year's top three quarterbacks that were taken in the NFL draft. The Jaguars will visit top draft pick Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 13 and then host the New England Patriots, who took Drake Maye third, at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 20.

The Carolina Panthers will host the New York Giants in Germany on Nov. 10 at Allianz Arena in Munich. In March, the league announced the Eagles will host the Packers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sept. 6.

Netflix has reached a three-year deal with the league to carry games on Christmas Day.

The streaming giant will carry two games this year and at least one game in 2025 and ’26. Kansas City travels to Pittsburgh in the first game before the Ravens and Texans meet in the late afternoon.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

FILE - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) plays during the second half of the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024, in Baltimore. The NFL announced Monday, May 13, that the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs will open the season at home against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, Sept. 5. The game is a rematch of the AFC championship game in January, which the Chiefs won 17-10 in Baltimore.(AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

FILE - Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) throws a pass during the second half of the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. The NFL announced Monday, May 13, that the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs will open the season at home against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, Sept. 5. The game is a rematch of the AFC championship game in January, which the Chiefs won 17-10 in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams, File)

FILE - New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers walks the field before an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023, in Miami Gardens, Fla. Rodgers and the New York Jets will kick off the this year’s slate of games in London against the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 6, 2024. The NFL announced the four international games in London and Germany Wednesday, May 15 morning before the full slate is released later in the day.(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)