White House Says Ukraine's Counteroffensive Has Not Stopped and Is Moving Forward
John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, has said that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is moving slower than planned, but it has not stopped.
Kirby said at the briefing that Ukraine itself recognised that the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is advancing "not as far and not as fast as they would like".
Kirby noted that "Nevertheless, they're moving. It's not a stalemate; they're not frozen."
He added that the US provided the Ukrainians with "everything they asked for" before the start of the counteroffensive and continued to provide it during these operations.
"We have provided the Ukrainians everything they asked for in the months leading up to the counteroffensive and continuing right through it. You can’t blame them for wanting more. And we’ve talked about F-16s; the training will begin sometime soon and, hopefully thereafter, followed by actual aircraft. But they’ve got tanks. They’ve got artillery. They’ve got HIMARS. And we’re going to continue to work with them every single day about trying to fulfill their needs as best we can," he said.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Ukraine's counteroffensive would continue for at least a few more months.
At the same time, Hanno Pevkur, the Minister of Defence of Estonia, believes that there is no need to create additional pressure on the Ukrainians in the matter of a counteroffensive. Instead, it is necessary to provide more weapons and assistance.