MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky complained that many Kiev’s partners accuse him of excessive demands.
"We asked for permission. We wrote the ‘victory plan’ and gave it to them. Every time when we propose something to our partners, they say: ‘Yes, but it would depend someone’s will.’ No. This plan has depended only on the will of the partners. […] They had to accept this plan. And many countries started to accept it. But many countries started telling us: ‘You know, we feel a little pressure, […] because you want too much’," Zelensky said during a press conference for European media. The video was published on his YouTube channel.
Zelensky has repeatedly complained that Kiev does not receive all aid that it requests from its Western partners and that too much time passes between the approval of new military aid packages and their actual delivery to the Ukrainian forces. Oftentimes, he used this as a justification of the failures of Ukrainian troops on the battlefield, seeking to put the blame on the partners.
Recently, Zelensky has begun to more actively insist on increased military aid - in particular, on shipment of long-range missiles for strikes deep into Russia’s territory, claiming that this is a part of his new "plan." Opposition Ukrainian lawmaker Alexander Dubinsky noted that Zelensky’s behavior looks like blackmailing the Biden Administration ahead of the election campaign in the United States, which, according to Dubinsky, can lead to the opposite result - to cause irritation among the allies and make Zelensky’s figure toxic.
Russia has repeatedly underscored that Western arms shipments to Kiev and training of Ukrainian soldiers will only prolong the conflict and will not change the situation on the battlefield.