MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2023) The United States is estimating that the Ukrainian counteroffensive will not reach its final stage in the coming weeks and may take several months more, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN on Sunday, adding that the counteroffensive has been going "tough."
"These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough... It will not play out over the next week or two. We're still looking, I think, at several months," Blinken told the broadcaster.
Ukraine's much-touted counteroffensive kicked off in early June after months of delays over a lack of military supplies from Western donors. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian troops kept trying but were failing to advance in the South Donetsk, Bakhmut and Zaporizhzhia directions. A number of Western media also noted the weak results of Kiev's counteroffensive, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself admitted that progress was "slower than desired."
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Ukraine had lost over 26,000 soldiers since the start of the counteroffensive.
