Ukraine’s planned summer counter-offensive against invading Russian forces has been “slowed down” by Russian defences and a lack of material, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNN in an interview on Wednesday.
He expressed regret that Ukraine had not received the necessary equipment from the West to begin the counteroffensive “much earlier” – when Russian entrenchments were not as developed.
“I’m grateful to the US as the leaders of our support but I told them, as well as the European leaders, that we would like to counter-offensive earlier, and we need all the weapons and materiel for that. Why? Simply because if we start later, it will go slower,” Zelenskyy told CNN.
The Ukrainian leader said that his military cannot “even think of starting” attacks in some regions due to a lack of “relevant weapons.” The Ukrainian leadership has previously remained quiet about Ukraine’s counter-offensive in a bid to maintain momentum and the element of surprise.
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Unfortunately for Ukrainian authorities, the summer offensive has so far only produced limited results, notably capturing several small settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region. Russian troops have had a long time to prepare for a Ukrainian assault, constructing deep fortifications and defensible fall back lines.
Ukrainian ministers insist that the main wave of the counter-offensive had yet to begin and that not all of its troops have been brought forward yet.
Zelenskyy repeated his call for US-made F-16 fighter jets, which have yet to be received from Ukraine’s allies. The US recently authorised its European partners to start training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 platform, but no announcements have been made about planned deliveries to Kyiv.
