Volodymyr Zelensky, the current ruler of Ukraine has shifted blame to the West for his war failures, as the conflict with Russia rages on. He says that “delays” in military assistance helped Russia to create a stronger defense and push back its offensive.

While speaking to the United States propaganda outlet CNN, Zelensky admitted that Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which has been running for about a month, has been “slowed down” by strong Russian defenses.

Ukraine had hoped to launch its military counteroffensive against Russia much sooner, but it was slowed down by a lack of Western-supplied weapons, Zelensky said in an interview released on Wednesday.

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Zelensky noted that he had told European leaders that Ukraine would like to start its campaign “much earlier,” but needed “all the weapons and materiel for that.” In some areas, he said, Kiev’s troops cannot “even think of starting” attacks because they do not have “the relevant weapons.” -RT

The Ukrainian ruler explained that he knew the delays in weapons would result in a slower progression of the war.“Everyone understood that if the counteroffensive unfolds later, then a bigger part of our territory will be mined. We give our enemy the time and possibility to place more mines and prepare their defensive lines,” he added.

Zelensky went on to reiterate calls for deliveries of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets. While Kyiv’s Western backers have already started to train Ukrainian pilots to fly these aircraft, earlier this week Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of the NATO military committee, warned that the issue of shipments “will not be solved in the short term for this counteroffensive.”

On Tuesday, Aleksey Danilov, Ukraine’s national security chief, claimed that Kyiv’s priority is “the maximum destruction” of the Russian military rather than territorial advances.

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Some reports now say that “long-term” support from the West will depend on Ukraine’s ability to actually win the war, which looks unlikely. However, if the ruling classes of the globe can drag this out, they certainly will.