Ukraine cannot launch counter-offensive without more weapons: Zelensky

In an interview with Japanese newspaperYomiuri Shimbun, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv cannot start a counter-offensive against Moscow until Western allies send more military support. He also said that the situation in the eastern part of the country is “not good” and that he has appealed to the United States and European countries to ramp up their supply of ammunition.

This comes as the eastern region of the war-torn country has witnessed some of the fiercest battles, including one for the key city of Bakhmut. However, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Lt Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, on Friday said in a Facebook post, that the situation in the eastern city is “stabilising”.

While acknowledging the situation on Ukraine’s frontlines, Zaluzhnyi also said that it “is the toughest in the Bakhmut direction” and that it is due to the “tremendous efforts” of the Ukrainian forces “we are managing to stabilise the situation”. Reports also suggest that Ukraine has been witnessing mounting casualties in the region.

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“We are waiting for ammunition to arrive from our partners,” said Zelensky to the Japanese newspaper.The Ukrainian president also spoke about how tanks provided by Germany and others are expected to be deployed on the battlefield from April, adding, “We need tanks for the “de-occupation of Ukraine.” When asked about the expected counter-offensive, Zelensky said, “We can’t start yet, we can't send our brave soldiers to the front line without tanks, artillery and long-range rockets.”

Reports of speculation about Ukraine’s counter-offensive, particularly about the time and place it might happen, have also left Kyiv’s defence ministry irate. Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar took to social media and urged people to stop discussing potential plans. She added, “Please stop asking experts questions about a counter-offensive on the air, please stop writing blogs and posts on this topic, please stop publicly discussing the military plans of our army,” reported BBC.

During the interview, Zelensky also spoke about China's12-point peace plan which does not call forthe withdrawal of Russian troops or the returning of all territory seized by Moscow and said, “Our sovereignty and territorial integrity comes first.”

Zelensky also said that he did not receive a message from Beijing abouta proposal to mediate peace between Russia and Ukraine and that even after"straight messages" through the diplomatic channels he wanted to speak with Chinese PresidentXi Jinping, he did notget a response.

(With inputs from agencies)

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