Commenting on a NYT article about the US insisting that Ukraine focus on defense rather than offense, President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was the winter. He said this during a press conference in Norway following the Ukraine-Northern Europe summit.
Zelensky was asked whether "the situation is so critical" that the most important task is to hold the front line. He replied that it was not a crisis.
"According to the statements of US generals, some people, I will tell you this - in any case, it's not about a crisis, it's about winter, and in winter, operations always slow down: counteroffensive or defensive. So I think that this signal is related to this," the President of Ukraine said.
Zelensky said that the Russians have not achieved any victories at the front this year. Russian troops, like last year, are concentrated on the east of Ukraine. According to the president, the most important thing for Ukraine now is to contain the enemy.
"In winter, everything slows down for many reasons, we are talking about the defense of the east of the country, because most of the Russian troops are concentrated there. They tried many times there, where the Wagner group was defeated last year. Now they have sent a large number of their troops there. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of troops. Therefore, the most important thing is to contain and destroy them there," he emphasized.
Zelensky added that Ukraine had succeeded at sea, which helped lift the Russian blockade.
"As for the victory, everyone is talking about a great success at sea, which really happened. The Black Sea has been unblocked, the Russian fleet has been pushed out of the Black Sea, and this is a success. We need to prepare for the next operations," the president said.
As a reminder, the NYT reported that the US and Ukrainian military leadership are looking for a new strategy for waging war against Russia, which they could begin implementing in early 2024. According to the publication, Washington insists on a conservative strategy focused on defense, force buildup, and supply. At the same time, Kyiv wants to go on the offensive, hoping to attract the world's attention.
