According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, this year Ukraine will plan a new counteroffensive operation in addition to defense. Zelensky said this in an interview with Fox News.

"Defense is the number one task. To continue our successful story on the Black Sea - we will do it. I will not go into details, but they will get some surprises, I mean the Russians. The south is very important. The defense of the east, where they have more than 200 thousand soldiers, is also very important. And, of course, we will be preparing a new counteroffensive, a new operation. Of course, I am not saying that we will just stand there. It depends on many things," he said.

He noted that even defense against the Russian Federation is a big task and challenge, as the forces are not equal.

At the same time, commenting on the results of the 2023 counteroffensive, the President noted that the slow advance was due to the need to save the lives of soldiers.

"If we lose the lives of soldiers, we will lose everything. With any technology. We will lose everything," Zelensky said.