Ukraine will regain all territory controlled by Russia no matter how long it takes, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has announced.
“Our goal is victory, victory in the form of regaining all the territory within the internationally recognized borders of 1991. We don’t care how long it takes,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kuleba said in an interview. media on August 17.
“As long as the Ukrainian people share this goal, the Ukrainian government will join hands with its people,” he said.
Ukraine launched its long-awaited counter-offensive in early June. After more than two months, Ukrainian officials admitted that the pace of the counter-attack was slower than expected due to the challenge of its fortified defenses. Russia.
However, Foreign Minister Kuleba affirmed that Kyiv is not under pressure from its Western allies and partners to speed up the counterattack. “We don’t feel it (the counter-pressure),” Kuleba said.
On the other hand, he stressed that Ukraine still needs Western arms and ammunition aid until Kyiv pushes all Russian forces from its territory.
“The truth is that until we win, we need a lot more support because the war is the reality that we need to win. There is no other way,” Kuleba said.
Kyiv has repeatedly stated its stance of never giving in to territory in exchange for peace. Kyiv criticized the idea by NATO Secretary General Stian Jenssen that Ukraine should cede land to Russia in order to be admitted to the US-led alliance.
In this regard, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg today affirmed that Ukraine has the right to decide the conditions for peace talks with Russia.
“Only the Ukrainians can decide when and under what conditions are suitable for negotiations, only Ukraine can decide at the negotiating table what is an acceptable solution to the conflict,” Stoltenberg said.
He also affirmed that NATO’s role is to continue to support Ukraine to win on the battlefield to enhance Kyiv’s position at the negotiating table with Moscow.
Russia currently controls nearly one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. The Crimean peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014 after a controversial referendum. The four Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia were also incorporated into Russia in a similar manner last October.
Ukraine has vowed to regain all territory controlled by Russia, restoring the border in 1991. However, Western officials are skeptical about this goal of Ukraine in the near future.
Moscow says that Ukraine’s counter-offensive has failed with heavy losses. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said this week that Ukraine has almost run out of military resources despite continued Western aid.
