Zelenskyy on counteroffensive: We have not achieved desired results, but we are not retreating

While acknowledging that the long-awaited counteroffensive in summer and autumn this year did not result in the anticipated breakthroughs, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has emphasised that Ukraine is not retreating and that it requires assistance in boosting domestic arms production.

Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with AP

Quote: "Look, we are not backing down, I am satisfied. We are fighting with the second (best) army in the world, I am satisfied. We are losing people, I’m not satisfied. We didn’t get all the weapons we wanted, I can’t be satisfied, but I also can’t complain too much…

We wanted faster results. From that perspective, unfortunately, we did not achieve the desired results. And this is a fact…

"There is not enough power to achieve the desired results faster. But this does not mean that we should give up, that we have to surrender. We are confident in our actions. We fight for what is ours."

Details: Zelenskyy explained that Ukraine has not received all the necessary weapons from its allies, and the limited size of its armed forces has not allowed it to move forward quickly.

However, he said, over the past few months, certain positive results have been achieved.

Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine managed to achieve gradual territorial gains against a better-armed and fortified enemy.

In addition, the power of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was reduced after the Ukrainian attacks that broke through the air defence system and struck at the headquarters of the invaders in Crimea.

The temporary grain corridor created by Kyiv after Russia left the wartime agreement to ensure safe exports is still working, the Ukrainian president added.

AP writes that Zelenskyy, though, is not dwelling on the past, but instead is focusing on the next phase, which is boosting domestic armaments production.

A significant part of the Ukrainian budget is allocated for this, but the current results are far from enough to turn the tide of the war.

Zelenskyy hopes that Western allies, including the United States, will offer sizable loans and contracts to achieve this goal.

Nothing terrifies Russia more than a militarily independent Ukraine, Zelenskyy declared, adding that "this is the way out."

The AP concluded that heavy weaponry and military assistance worth tens of billions of dollars from the West have contributed to the ongoing counteroffensive.

Background: In early November, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, said he believed that the war with Russia was moving to a new stage, "positional" warfare with static and attritional fighting. To win it, Ukraine needs advanced technologies. He emphasised that  without a combination of new technologies and a powerful technological leap, Ukraine faces protracted trench warfare. The situation has reached a stalemate as both sides are technologically equipped at the same level.

For a while, Ukraine had a certain advantage in the use of drones, but Russia has also increased its production of these, and now has an edge in this regard.

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