Ukraine needs ‘extra time’ before launching counter-offensive against Russia, says Volodymyr Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with EBU-member European public service media on Thursday (11 May) that his army still needed time to prepare a major counter-offensive against Russian forces. “With [ce que nous avons] we can move forward and be successful. But we would lose a lot of people. I think that is unacceptable. So we have to wait. We still need a little extra time.”affirmed the Ukrainian president.

In recent weeks, the Ukrainian army has trained new forces and accumulated ammunition and equipment, supplied by its Western allies. But the timetable for Kiev to launch the expected counter-offensive, in order to regain ground in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk (East) as well as Kherson and Zaporijjia (South), remains an open question. The Ukrainian Minister of Defense had assured at the end of April that “preparations are coming to an end”. “The equipment has been promised, prepared and partially delivered. In a broad sense, we are ready, he had specified. [Quand il y aura] the weather and the decision of the commanders, we will do it.”

“No one can force Ukraine to give up territories”

Volodymyr Zelensky, however, told the EBU on Thursday that his army still needed armored vehicles that “come in batches”. He added that Western sanctions against Moscow were impacting Russian troop resources. “They always have a lot [de stocks] in their warehouses, but (…) we already see that they have reduced the number of daily bombings in certain areas”, he detailed. The Ukrainian president therefore expressed confidence in the ability of his army to regain ground.

However, he warned of the risk of a “frozen conflict”an eventuality on which, according to him, Russia is counting in order to try to obtain concessions on the occupied territories. “No one can force Ukraine to give up territories, however hammered Volodymyr Zelensky. For what reasons would a country agree to give its land to [Vladimir] Cheese fries ?”