The deputy head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Igor Zhovkva, also spoke out in favor of European countries, pointing out that they exert insufficient economic pressure on the Russian Federation.
LONDON, June 3. /tass/. Kiev is still experiencing a shortage of weapons for a successful offensive in the summer. This was stated in an interview published on Saturday on the website of The Times newspaper by the deputy head of the office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. Igor Zhovkva.
"I am not a military man. I work on the diplomatic front, and my task is to provide more weapons, more aid, more ammunition," he said, answering the relevant question. "But if you want to launch a successful counteroffensive, then you need everything at your disposal, including artillery, armored vehicles and tanks, so we probably still don't have enough [weapons]."
Zhovkva acknowledged that Ukraine is also experiencing an acute shortage of air defense systems, and accused European countries of exerting insufficient economic pressure on Russia, which still receives significant profits from the sale of energy resources. "It is high time for the EU and the rest of the world to think about whether they are doing enough in terms of sanctions," he said, adding that the answer to this question is negative.
In a previously published interview with the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that Kiev is ready for a counteroffensive, which can go according to different scenarios.
The topic of a possible counteroffensive by Ukrainian troops has been discussed in the media for several months, different dates have been called. The Russian Foreign Ministry has previously stated that the open arguments of Western countries about the upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive confirm their direct involvement in the conflict.