Zelensky Intended to Start Counteroffensive Sooner

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that he was in favor of launching the counteroffensive earlier. According to him, he expressed his position in discussions with representatives of the United States and European countries, and also tried to obtain weapons for that purpose.

“I am grateful to the United States for its support as a leader... However, I told them, as well as European leaders, that we would like to start our counteroffensive earlier, and we need all the weapons and ammunition for that. Why? Because if we start later, we will move much more slowly,” Zelensky told CNN.

Zelensky explained the current pace of the counteroffensive by the “difficulties” on the battlefield. “I wanted our counteroffensive to happen much earlier, as everyone understood that if it expanded later, a large part of our territory would be mined. We are giving our enemy time and opportunity to install more mines and prepare defensive lines,” he clarified.

Earlier, Zelensky had stated that heavy rains had contributed to the slowdown of Ukrainian forces' advancement. He mentioned that Ukraine wants to demonstrate results before the NATO summit in Vilnius, which is set to begin on July 11.