Dmytro Kuleba, Ukrainian Foreign Minister, has said that Kyiv does not feel pressure from the West regarding the pace of liberation of Ukrainian territories, and it does not matter how long it takes if the people support the goal of complete de-occupation.

When asked in an interview with AFP whether Western allies who have provided significant military aid pressure Ukraine to achieve faster progress on the front, Kuleba said that Kyiv is "not feeling this".

At the same time, he acknowledged "an increase in the voices of commentators and experts in the public space" who discuss the pace of Ukraine's success during the offensive.

"It’s easy to say that you want everything to be faster when you are not there…

Our goal is victory, victory in the form of the liberation of our territories within (Ukraine’s) borders of 1991. And we don’t care how long it takes.

As long as the Ukrainian people share this goal, the Ukrainian government will move hand in hand with its own people...

The truth is that until we have won, we need more, we need to move forward, because war is a reality, and in this reality, we need to win. There is no other way," he said.

The Pentagon announced that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had performed a miracle by driving the Russians into the defensive.

The US Department of Defense has been observing the Ukrainian Defence Forces' advance as part of a counteroffensive, but predicts it will be a challenging and prolonged struggle.