NNA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyis constantly walking a fine line, making sure not to sound ungrateful even as he points out that the United States, its most important military benefactor, severely undercut its war effort for six months, resulting in the loss of territory and thousands of lives.

“In half a year while we were waiting for a decision on the America support, the Russian army managed to seize the initiative on the battlefield,” Zelensky said at the opening of Friday’s virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group hosted by the Pentagon. It was the first meeting of the 50-plus nation group since the Republican deadlock over additional aid to Ukraine was broken, allowing an initial tranche of arms and ammunition to ship to Ukraine. “We can still now not only stabilize the front but also move forward, achieving our Ukrainian goals in the war,” Zelensky said.

Yesterday, Ukraine’s top commander, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said his soldiers have been forced to make a tactical retreat from three villages as Russian forces take advantage of their manpower and ammunition to attack “along the entire front line” of more than 600 miles. “Syrskyi acknowledged that Russian forces are making tactical advances northwest of Avdiivka, and Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces have deployed up to four brigades to their tactical penetration in the Ocheretyne (northwest of Avdiivka) area,” the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest battlefield assessment.

Ukraine is in a deep hole and needs three things immediately to dig out, Zelensky said: long-range weapons, air defenses, and artillery shells. “This year, Russian jets has already used more than 9,000 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine, and we need the ability to shoot down their combat aircraft so that they do not approach our positions and borders,” Zelensky said.--agencies 

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