MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/. The slowdown of Ukrainian Armed Forces’ actions at the frontline is caused by the beginning of winter, not a crisis, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky claimed.
"As for the statements made by US generals, some other people, I will say this: in any case, this is not about a crisis, this is about winter. Operations always slow down during winter - both counteroffensive and defensive ones. Therefore I believe that this signal is connected to that," he said during a press conference.
Zelensky made this comment after a reporter asked him to comment on statements made by some US generals working with the Ukrainian armed forces that the time has come for Ukraine to switch to defense.
Previously, The New York Times reported that a number of US military officials offered Ukraine to focus on holding the controlled territory in order to begin peace talks with Russia by the end of 2024.
In early November, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander Valery Zaluzhny said in an interview for The Economist that the conflict around Ukraine has reached an impasse, Ukrainian forces are unable to achieve a breakthrough at the frontline. According to Zaluzhny, the positional conflict of attrition can last for years and exhaust Ukraine.
The Ukrainian army has been making futile offensive attempts since early June. According to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, in six months, Kiev lost over 125,000 people and over 16,000 vehicles. The Russian side has repeatedly underscored that the counteroffensive yielded no meaningful results for Ukraine. In the recent weeks, statements have been made repeatedly, both in the West and in Kiev itself, that the counteroffensive was not successful enough, and the situation at the frontline is a dead end for the Ukrainian side.