MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/. Ukraine is not ready to engage in lengthy battles, because it lacks economic resources and manpower, an advisor to former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said on Thursday.

"Ukraine is not ready for a lengthy, strenuous war. Objectively, it is [not capable] of engaging in it, because we have no resources," Oleg Soskin said in a video posted on YouTube.

In his words, the country has already sustained great economic, financial and human losses.

"We have no resources to continue this <…>, even for the next six months," he said, adding that the country's resources are enough to last "until the end of the year, at best, and that’s all."

The former advisor suggested it was time for Kiev to begin ceasefire talks.

Soskin called for a truce with Russia before, saying that its strike power was growing, and also suggested that martial law be lifted and parliamentary and presidential elections be held. He said the elections would remove Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and his supporters from power, and that would give the country a chance for salvation.

In an article dated August 12, The New York Times estimated the casualties among the armed forces of Ukraine at over 150,000 (killed and injured), citing Western military analysts.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Ukrainian army had been making unsuccessful offensive attempts since June 4. Ukraine has lost 71,500 servicemen since the beginning of the counteroffensive which has yielded no results so far, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF). According to the Russian leader, Kiev has already lost 543 tanks and almost 18,000 armored vehicles of various types.