London (EFE)
In an interview for Eurovision News public service broadcasters such as the British BBC, Zelensky stressed that the combat brigades, some of which were trained by NATO countries, are “ready” but that the Army still needed “some things”, including armored vehicles.
According to the media with which the Ukrainian president has met, the expected attack could be decisive in the war and also an important test for Ukraine, which seeks to demonstrate that the weapons and equipment it has received from the West can generate significant advances in the conflict.
“With (what we already have) we can go ahead and, I think, 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 more time,” Zelensky said.
US and NATO support
Russian forces have strengthened their defenses along a front line of about 1,450 kilometers, from the eastern regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, to Zaporizhia and Kherson in the south.
Nevertheless, the president expressed his confidence that the Ukrainian military could advance.
On the other hand, Zelensky dismissed the fear of losing the support of the United States if President Joe Biden is not re-elected in 2024.
According to the president, Ukraine still enjoys support in the US Congress, and he was hopeful that the war is over: who knows where we will be (when the elections take place)? I think we’ll win by then.”
To do this, they also have the support of NATO. The Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, affirmed this Thursday that there is no “alternative” to his country entering the Alliance in the future and stressed that currently, the former Soviet republic is “the shield of Europe” in the east Faced with the “Russian Threat”
Zelensky has offered a 10-point peace proposal, which calls for, among other points, the return of all invaded territory, reparation payments for war-related damage, and the creation of a special court to prosecute war crimes. Russians, a plan that Moscow has rejected.
The Kremlin admits that it is far from its objectives in Ukraine
The Kremlin has acknowledged that the Russian military campaign in Ukraine is “very difficult” and is still far from achieving all the goals set by President Vladimir Putin.
In an interview with the Bosnian ATV television channel, collected by the official TASS agency, the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, recalled that Putin gave the order to guarantee the “security” of the residents of Donbas in the first place, something which has only been partially achieved.
“This task has been partially solved, but only partially. We are still far from being able to complete it. There are bombardments from multiple shuttles, bombardments of Donetsk and other locations, and we must drive the enemy back a considerable distance. Therefore, the operation will continue,” Peskov stressed.
Peskov also has “no doubt” that Russian forces will finally take the eastern city of Bakhmut, which has become the longest battle of the entire war, lasting more than nine months.
For the head of the Wagner group, whose mercenaries are fighting in Bakhmut, the Ukrainian president’s statements about the counteroffensive against Russian forces are “a ruse”
According to Yevgeny Prigozhin. the counteroffensive “is already in full swing.” The Ukrainian Army “attacks from the flanks on the Artiomovsk front (Russian name for Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine) and, unfortunately, in some places successfully.”