U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that despite Ukraine retaking half of the territory lost to Russia during the invasion, Kyiv still faced a formidable uphill battle.
Blinken told CNN on Sunday that “it has already taken back about 50% of what was initially seized.”
The counteroffensive is in its infancy at this point. He continued, “It’s difficult, and it won’t resolve itself in the next week or two. I’d say we have a few more months of looking ahead of us.
The counteroffensive against Russian forces has been moving more slowly than desired, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was quoted on this matter at the end of last month.
Ukraine has retaken a few villages in the south and the area around the abandoned city of Bakhmut in the east, but it has not made any significant progress toward Russian lines of defense.
Blinken expressed confidence that the United States would sell Ukraine F-16 fighter jets when asked about this. And it’s critical that they have the skills to properly maintain and intelligently operate the aircraft once they do.
Beginning in August, a coalition of eleven countries will begin teaching Ukrainian pilots how to operate F-16 fighter jets at a facility in Denmark.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said last month that Washington had not made a final decision on sending Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) F-16s to Ukraine, despite the country’s longstanding request for the fighter jets. It will take at least 18 months, according to U.S. officials, to train pilots and deliver the planes.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States has provided over $41 billion in military aid to the country.
