Preparations for a Ukrainian counteroffensive are complete, but the loss of life could be great due to Russian air superiority, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“In my opinion, from today we are ready (…) We firmly believe that we will achieve it,” he said in an interview published this Saturday by the Wall Street Journal.
However, he clarified that he does not know “how long (the counteroffensive) will take.”
Zelensky demands more Patriot missiles
The president also warned that the offensive would be “dangerous” without more Western help to counter Russian airstrikes.
“Everyone knows that a counteroffensive without air superiority is very dangerous,” added the Ukrainian president.
“A single weapon, the American Patriot surface-to-air missile system, can protect the Ukrainian skies” and “deprive Russia of its ability to intimidate tens of millions of people,” he added, calling for more such weapons to be delivered. to your country. .
‘Too late’ to join NATO in the middle of the war
Ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, next month, Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that he understood that it was not possible for his country to join the Atlantic Alliance during the Russian invasion.
“We don’t want to be NATO members during the war,” he said. “It’s too late. But tell me, how many lives is a sentence on top of Vilnius worth?”
“If we are not recognized and if we do not receive a signal in Vilnius” (with a view to possible future membership, editor’s note) “I think it is useless for Ukraine to participate in this summit,” he estimated.
Source: BFM TV
