This is not a crisis: Zelensky responds to calls to move to defense at the front

The situation at the front in Ukraine is not a crisis. In winter, certain operations, whether counteroffensive or defensive, always slow down. Russia has sent hundreds of thousands of troops to the east, so the most important thing is to deter and destroy the occupiers there. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy  during a joint press conference with the participants of the Nordic Summit, according to a UNN correspondent.

Zelensky commented on the NYT article that Ukraine should allegedly switch to defense instead of offense.

"Regarding the statement of the US generals, some people, I will tell you this - in any case, this is not about the crisis, this is about winter, and in winter, certain operations, counteroffensive or defensive, always slow down, and so I think this signal is related to this," Zelensky said.

Zelensky said that Russia had no victories this year, they were unable to occupy anything.

"In winter, everything slows down for many different reasons. We are talking about the defense of the east of our country, because most of the troops of the Russian Federation are concentrated there today. They have tried there many times, where last year a group of Wagnerites was defeated, 20 thousand were killed. Now they have sent a large number of their troops there, that is, we are talking about hundreds of thousands of troops, so the most important thing is to deter them and destroy them on our land," Zelensky said.

Context

The New York Times reportedthat the US military allegedly  wants Ukraine to pursue a "hold and build" strategy - focusing on holding the territory it has and building its ability to produce weapons through 2024.

Supplement

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov statedthat hopes for a Ukrainian counteroffensive were not realized. However, this does not mean that the victory will not be on the Ukrainian side.