V. Zelenskis: Russia took the initiative while the USA delayed providing support – Respublika.lt

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Volodymyr Zelensky. ELTA / Dainius Labutis

American politicians have been heatedly debating for months how, and if at all, to continue supporting Ukraine, leaving Kiev’s forces severely short of critical artillery and air defense munitions.

“While we were waiting for a decision on American support, the Russian military was able to take the initiative on the battlefield,” Zelenskiy said, opening a virtual meeting of dozens of international supporters of Ukraine.

“Now we will be able to not only stabilize the front, but also move forward to achieve Ukraine’s goals in the war,” he said, while noting that “Ukraine’s defenders need your sufficient and timely support.”

V. Zelensky also emphasized that this war is very important, saying that Russia’s success could give birth to further aggression.

“Predatory regimes like Russia’s are rapidly increasing their appetite for aggression. When they succeed in one part of the world, it causes problems in many other places. Unstoppable aggression continues to spread,” he said.

The United States is the main military sponsor of Ukraine, having allocated more than 44 billion dollars. dollars in security support since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

But the embattled Congress has not approved large-scale financial aid to Kyiv for nearly a year and a half and only last week finally took steps to clear the way for new aid.

A senior US defense official said on Thursday that the help from the US and other countries “will allow the Ukrainians to start taking the initiative” but “it will not be a quick process”.

“The Ukrainians will need to do a lot of retooling to take in all these new supplies… and to ensure the defense of their positions.” So I would not predict any large-scale attack in the near future,” the official added.