Zelenskyy says Ukraine needs more time to prepare counteroffensive against Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s military needed more time to prepare for an anticipated counterattack to drive out Russian occupation forces.

Zelenskyy said in an interview broadcast Thursday by the BBC that it was “unacceptable” to launch an attack now because so many lives would be lost.

“By [what we have] we can move forward and succeed,” Zelenskyy said in the interview, according to the BBC.

“But we’re going to lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable.”

The interview reportedly took place in Kyiv with public service broadcasters who are members of Eurovision News, including the BBC.

“So we have to wait. We still need more time,” Zelenskyy said.

Not counting his hands

A Ukrainian fightback against the Russian invasion more than 14 months ago is expected for weeks. Ukraine receives sophisticated Western weaponry, including tanks and other armored vehicles, and Western training for its forces when it goes on the offensive.

While a counterpunch is possible as the weather in Ukraine improves, there is no word yet on when that will happen. Zelenskyy’s remarks could be a red herring to keep Russia guessing, and ammunition supply difficulties facing both sides have added to the uncertainty.

Claims by the Ukrainian military on Wednesday that it had advanced up to two kilometers around the hotly contested eastern town of Bakhmut led to speculation that a counter-attack was underway.

But Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesman for the Eastern Ukraine Operational Command, told The Associated Press that the attack was not “a major counteroffensive, but a harbinger indicating that there will be more such attacks in the future.”

Kremlin forces have entrenched themselves in eastern Ukraine with a layered defense line reportedly up to 20 kilometers deep. Kyiv’s counterattack will likely face mines, anti-tank ditches and other obstacles.

Russia is “acting slowly” in Ukraine because it wants to preserve infrastructure and save lives there, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Bosnian Serb channel ATV on Wednesday night. Moscow has repeatedly explained the lack of progress on the battlefield as an effort to protect civilians, but these claims have been proven false.

Quality vs. quantity, NATO officials say

Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin was counting on reducing the war to a so-called frozen conflict, and that neither side could rule out the other, according to the BBC. They did not cede territory to Russia in return for a peace deal.

Military analysts have warned that Putin hopes that valuable Western support for Kyiv will begin to erode.

Ukraine’s Western allies have sent the country 65 billion euros ($95 billion Cdn) in military aid to help thwart the Kremlin’s ambitions, and with no peace talks on the horizon, the alliance is poised to send more.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the need to delay the counterattack was a sign that the West should step up its military support for Ukraine.

“Of course, they need more preparation,” Borrell told a defense and security conference in Brussels. “They need more weapons. They need to accumulate more capacity, and we need to provide them.”

Senior NATO officials say that in the coming months of war, Ukraine will have the quality but Russia has the upper hand in numbers.

“Russia is now starting to use very old material, very old capabilities,” Adm. Bob Bauer, chairman of NATO’s military committee, told reporters late Wednesday in Brussels.

“Russia should focus on numbers,” he said. “A larger number of conscripts and mobilized people. Not well-trained.”

During the winter, the conflict became stuck in a war of attrition with both sides relying heavily on the bombardment of each other’s positions.

A counteroffensive is the main challenge, requiring the Ukrainian military to organize various capabilities, including providing ammunition, food, medical supplies and spare parts, which are in the supply line that can be expanded. The front line extended over 1,000 kilometers.

The Kremlin wants Kyiv to recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea and also recognize its September annexation of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.

Ukraine has rejected those demands and refused to negotiate with Russia until its forces withdraw from all occupied territories.