Dhe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would have wished for the counter-offensive to liberate the Russian-occupied territories in his country to begin “much earlier”. He told the US and European partners “that we would like to start our counteroffensive earlier and that we need all the weapons and material for it. Why? Simply because it will be slower if we start later,” Zelenskyi told US broadcaster CNN in an interview that was published in full on Wednesday (local time). According to the broadcaster, the conversation was recorded on Sunday in Odessa.
Zelenskyy stressed the importance of longer-range ATACMS-type missiles, which Ukraine is asking the US for, with which it could attack Russian targets far behind the front lines. The missiles would help Ukraine move faster, Zelenskyy said. He also pointed to shortages in equipping his troops with artillery. “In some directions we can’t even think about starting it (the counter-offensive) because we don’t have the right weapons,” Zelenskyy said.
The president of the attacked country made it clear once again what a recapture of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, would mean for Ukraine. “We cannot imagine Ukraine without Crimea,” said Zelenskyy. “And as long as Crimea is under Russian occupation, it means only one thing: the war is not over.”
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