Ukraine needs more help from its allies to face an expected major Russian offensive, which may come at the end of May or in June, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with CBS News published on March 28.
As Kyiv finds itself in an increasingly perilous situation in the war, Ukrainian military officials warned that Moscow may be preparing for a new major attack, mustering a force of 100,000 troops.
Zelensky noted that the situation on the battlefield has been stabilized when compared to earlier months.
"We have stabilized the situation. It is better than it used to be two or three months ago when we had a big deficit of artillery ammunition, different kinds of weapons," Zelensky said in the interview recorded in an undisclosed location in eastern Ukraine, close to the Russian border.
"We totally didn't see the big, huge counteroffensive from Russia... They didn't have success."
Russian forces made some progress on the eastern front in February, capturing the key front-line city of Avdiivka and several nearby villages. On March 21, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that the situation in the east had been stabilized.
The president stressed that Ukrainian troops need more arms to prepare for a possible big push by their Russian adversaries.
"And before that, we not only need to prepare, we not only need to stabilize the situation, because the partners are sometimes really happy that we have stabilized the situation... No, I say we need help now," Zelensky said.
In particular, the president stressed that Ukraine needs more Patriot air defense systems and artillery. Kyiv has faced problems with ammunition supplies as $60 billion in U.S. assistance remains stuck in Congress.
Russia also recently intensified its missile and drone attacks against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, putting further strain on Ukraine's air defense capabilities.
Zelensky warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambitions are not limited to Ukraine.
"At the moment, it's us, then Kazakhstan, then Baltic states, then Poland, then Germany. At least half of Germany," he said.
"This aggression, and Putin's army, can come to Europe, and then the citizens of the United States, the soldiers of the United States, will have to protect Europe because they're the NATO members."
Igor Kossov
(Updated: )
