Delayed aid troubling, Ukrainian official says
KYIV, Ukraine — Half of all Western military support promised to Ukraine fails to arrive on time, complicating the task of military planners and ultimately costing the lives of soldiers in Russia’s war, Ukraine’s defense minister said Sunday.
Rustan Umerov, speaking at the “Ukraine. Year 2024” forum in Kyiv, said each delayed aid shipment means Ukrainian troop losses and underscored Russia’s superior military might.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later told attendees at the event that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in action since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. It was the first time Kyiv has confirmed the number of its losses.
Commemorations to mark the second anniversary of the war on Saturday brought expressions of continued support, new bilateral security agreements and new aid commitments from Ukraine’s Western allies. But Umerov said they still needed to deliver on their commitments if Ukraine is to have any chance of holding out against Russia.
“We look to the enemy: Their economy is almost $2 trillion,” he said, adding that they use up to 15% of official and nonofficial budget funds for the war, which constitutes more than $150 billion. He said that whenever a commitment doesn’t arrive on time, “we lose people, we lose territories.”
During a news conference after the forum Sunday, Zelenskyy said four brigades did not take part in the country’s counteroffensive against Russian forces because they hadn’t received the equipment they were expecting.
The Ukrainian leader also confirmed plans for an international peace summit to tackle issues exacerbated by the war, such as nuclear or food security, in Switzerland in 2024. That would be followed by a potential invitation to Russian representatives to attend a second summit later in the year. However, Zelenskyy said Ukraine would not submit to a peace plan that did not serve its interests and discarded the idea of direct negotiations.
“Is it possible to talk to a man who kills his opponents?” Zelenskyy said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We will offer a platform where he can agree that he has lost this war and that it was a mistake.”
Zelenskyy also spoke about ongoing fighting in northeastern Ukraine, where front-line conflict has intensified in recent months leading to the capture of the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka. He said Moscow was using heavy artillery fire to put pressure on Ukrainian forces in the directions of Kharkiv and Kupiansk.
However, his speech remained defiant. “Will Ukraine lose in this war? I am sure that it won’t. Our most difficult moment was on Feb. 24 two years ago. We have no alternative but to win. … If Ukraine loses, then we will not exist. We do not want such an ending to this fight for our lives.”
On Sunday, Russian forces appeared to be pressing on west of Avdiivka.
Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, who leads Ukrainian forces fighting in the area, said Sunday that his troops had retreated from much of Lastochkyne, a western suburb of Avdiivka.
Jake Sullivan, U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, asserted Sunday that he believes Kyiv has a path to victory as long as Western allies deliver “the tools that it needs.”
Speaking to NBC in Washington, Sullivan acknowledged that Ukrainian forces lost Avdiivka because of a shortage of ammunition, calling on the U.S. Congress to “step up” and pass the additional $60 billion in security assistance requested by the Biden administration.
Also Sunday, Germany’s top diplomat announced during a visit to southern Ukraine that Berlin would send Kyiv an extra $108 million in humanitarian aid, according to Germany’s dpa agency.
Russian shelling and rocket strikes on Sunday continued to pummel Ukraine’s south and east, where local Ukrainian officials reported that at least two civilians were killed and eight others were wounded in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces.