KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday his country’s victory “depends” on support from the West and expressed hope the United States would approve a critical package of military aid.
In a rare acknowledgement of setbacks, Zelensky said 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war and that plans for last summer’s failed counteroffensive had been leaked to Russia.
He appealed to the West to boost Ukraine’s war chances, at a forum marking the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
“Whether Ukraine will lose, whether it will be very difficult for us, and whether there will be a large number of casualties depends on you, on our partners, on the Western world,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president said that “there is hope for Congress, and I am sure that it is going to be positive.”
Ukraine has for months said that Western aid is too slow coming and that the hold-ups have real consequences as the war against Russia enters its third year.
Zelensky for the first time suggested that Russia had prior information on the country’s much-anticipated but unsuccessful counteroffensive last summer.
“Action plans were on the Kremlin’s table before the counteroffensive actions began,” said the president, who this month sacked the army’s commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny.
Zelensky said that Ukraine’s war losses were nevertheless much lower than Russia has claimed.
