Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country’s military is “ready” to begin its highly anticipated counteroffensive to regain the territory occupied by Russian forces.
The actor-turned-politician “strongly” believes his troops will succeed in these efforts, though he also acknowledged that a lack of air superiority would likely lead to “a large number of soldiers” getting killed in battle, he told the Wall Street Journal.
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“I don’t know how long it will take,” Zelensky said. “To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready.”
The United States and other Western countries have provided Kyiv with billions of dollars of military equipment, ammunition, and training on some of the more sophisticated platforms for this offensive. However, Ukraine’s military does not have everything it has asked for, and some weapons are many months away from reaching the front lines. Some Western plans, such as training Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation aircraft, were not intended to conclude before their offensive.
Zelensky said they desperately needed more Patriot missile-defense systems, though he added, “We would like to have certain things, but we can’t wait for months.”
Foreign long-term support may also be on the line with the offensive as well as with the U.S. presidential election in November 2024. While President Joe Biden’s administration has provided Ukraine with roughly $37 billion of military aid since the war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022, a number of the Republican presidential candidates have expressed skepticism of providing such aid to Ukraine.
Former President Donald Trump, the presumed favorite in the primary, said last month that he would seek to end the war quickly but did not say how he would do that. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), another contender, initially called the war a “territorial dispute,” incurring backlash, before backtracking.
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“In a situation like this, when there is support, you are afraid of changes,” Zelensky acknowledged. “And to be honest, when you mention a change of administration, I feel the same way as any other person — you want changes for the better, but it can also be the other way around.”
There are small factions within both parties on Capitol Hill who want to reduce or cease providing aid to Ukraine, though the majority of both parties want to continue arming Ukraine.
