Slow US aid hampers Ukraine's eastern defense, warns Zelensky
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky admits that US aid is arriving slowly in his country. Consequently, Kyiv cannot effectively defend the eastern part of the country. "Russia understands this perfectly. They are doing what they did in Kharkiv and heading north to stretch the front," he said in an interview with the British "The Guardian".
5:19 PM EDT, June 1, 2024
In the interview, Zelensky reiterated that American aid is arriving too slowly. "From this amount, I think, very little has been delivered so far, in my opinion," he noted. He explained that this delay causes problems with reserve brigades and rotation.
"Russia understands this perfectly. They are doing what they did in Kharkiv and heading north to stretch the front. They know we have personnel shortages; they know we can't send reserves without the right weapons," he said. As a result, the Russians are "stretching" the front to facilitate achieving their main goal: taking over eastern Ukraine.
"If the weapons were sufficient, then we would equip reserve brigades and would not withdraw our forces from Donbas, and we could respond with long-range forces in the Kharkiv region," he emphasized.
In April, US President Joe Biden signed a bill worth $95 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Ukraine alone will receive equipment and weaponry worth nearly $61 billion.
