T + T – Normal size
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with CNN that aired Sunday that Ukrainian forces are facing heavy losses due to severe delays in the arrival of Western weapons needed to properly arm their forces.
Zelensky explained that the advance of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, including around the city of Pokrovsk, poses a great threat, as the capture of this strategic center could provide opportunities for Moscow to open new lines of attack. He stated that the situation in the eastern region is very difficult, as half of the Ukrainian brigades there are not sufficiently equipped.
“We are losing a lot of soldiers because of a lack of equipment. We have no armed vehicles, no artillery, no artillery shells,” the Ukrainian president said, speaking in English. He noted that military aid packages promised by the United States and European countries were arriving slowly, adding: “We need to equip 14 brigades, but so far we have only been able to equip four brigades.”
In this context, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced on Saturday that Washington is preparing to send a new and large aid package to Ukraine. Zelensky is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden this month to present a plan aimed at ending the conflict.
Zelensky said his biggest fear was that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not realize the impact of the war on the Russian people, adding, “If we make Ukraine strong, you will find Putin sitting and negotiating.”
Zelensky will also renew his demand that the United States allow Ukraine to use long-range American weapons to strike military targets inside Russia.
He told CNN that Kyiv needed this permission because Russian aircraft targeting Ukrainian infrastructure had begun operating from up to 500 kilometers away from the front lines, compared to 150 kilometers previously.
