Western hesitance to provide Ukraine with heavy weaponry and training provided Russia with “more time than they needed” to fortify their lines, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We did plan to start it in spring, but we didn’t because, frankly, we had not enough munitions and armaments and not enough properly trained brigades — I mean, properly trained in these weapons,” Zelensky said through an interpreter during a virtual appearance Friday before the Aspen Security Forum. “Because we started it a bit later on … it provided Russia with time to mine all our lands and build several lines of defense.”
Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials maintained a collegial tone at the forum, just weeks after the Ukrainian president’s open dissatisfaction with NATO’s ambiguous promise to his country cast an cloud of acrimony over the Vilnius Summit. Yet a leitmotif of uncertainty about the lack of progress of the counteroffensive drew Zelensky to warn against an overeager demand for results.
“Yes, I do understand that it’s always better to say victory comes sooner, this is what we also want, but the question is the price of this victory,” Zelensky said. “So, let us not throw people under tanks, literally. Let us plan our counteroffensive as our analysts and our intelligence suggests.”