Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he has warned the United States and other Western nations that the longer it takes for allies to deliver the promised weapons and ammunition for the mission, the counteroffensive will slow down.
In an interview with CNN In a broadcast on Wednesday evening, Mr. Zelenskyi said Ukraine had wanted to start the military operation earlier but would have to wait for the advanced weapons.
“I am grateful to the US as leaders for our support, but I have told them and the European leaders that we would like to start our counteroffensive earlier and for that we need all the weapons and materials,” he said through an interpreter.
“Why? Simply because it’s slower if we start later.”
The slow progress has been a common criticism of allies and pro-Russian military bloggers assessing the counteroffensive, which has encountered extensive Russian defenses.
Gen. Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week that the Ukrainian troops were “continuously and purposefully advancing”.
“The slow advance is very deliberate,” the general added in a statement Friday to the National Press Club in Washington.
He said he was not surprised by the fact that the long-awaited push to retake the Russian-held territories was not progressing as quickly as many experts had predicted.
“It will be very long and very, very bloody and no one should be under any illusions about that,” General Milley said. “Ukrainian soldiers are charging through minefields and into trenches, and it’s literally a fight for their lives. So yeah, sure, it’s a bit slow, but that’s the nature of war.”
Ukraine has yet to deploy the bulk of its reserves, including troops trained in Europe over the winter and spring and armed with weapons from NATO countries, meaning it can deploy even more forces.
In the CNN interview, Mr. Zelenskyj advocated even more advanced weapons and US-made F-16 fighter jets.
“In some directions we can’t even think of launching a counter-offensive,” he said, “because we don’t have the weapons to do it.” And it would be just inhumane to have our people killed with long-range Russian weapons.”
Eric Schmitt And Andrew E Kramer contributed to the reporting.
