Czech President Petr Pavel said the West was hindering Ukraine's ability to conduct large-scale military operations "by not providing enough weapons".
The statement was made by Mr. Pavel in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on November 27. The Czech leader said that the West "has not done enough" to support Ukraine's slowing counterattack in the conflict with Russia.
“Unfortunately, we did not fulfill our promise to supply artillery shells to the Ukrainians. Training on F-16 fighter jets is also not progressing as quickly as expected,” Pavel said.
Czech President Petr Pavel. (Photo: RT)
Mr Pavel, a former NATO general, added that while France and Britain had supplied Kiev with long-range Storm Shadow missiles – which Russian officials allege have been used to target civilian infrastructure – Germany had so far been slow to send its long-range Taurus missiles.
“This creates an imbalance in aid deliveries and is not a good basis for Ukraine's military planning,” the Czech president said.
Mr Pavel also reiterated his warning in July that Ukraine essentially had only one chance to launch a major counterattack, as it was “costly and time-consuming”, and was also subject to “ political changes”.
“My view is based on the observation that next year there will be elections in Russia, in the United States and possibly in Ukraine,” he said.
Mr. Pavel added that the upcoming winter will be “extremely difficult” for Ukraine due to heavy damage to infrastructure caused by Russian attacks.
The Czech leader said that countries would also become more reluctant to support Ukraine because “a sense of frustration will grow”, stressing once again that “this creates a situation that is not very favourable for continuing counter-offensive operations”.
The Ukrainian counter-offensive has been underway since early June but has made no significant progress, despite being backed by a large amount of NATO hardware.
In late October, Moscow claimed Kiev had lost more than 90,000 soldiers since the start of the offensive, while Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Ukraine had lost more than 13,000 soldiers in November alone.
Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine's top general, recently said the conflict was at a stalemate like World War I, with many Ukrainian officials blaming their difficulties on delays in Western arms deliveries that have allowed Moscow to build up its formidable defenses.
Hoa Vu (Source: RT)
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