Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lamented the slow and insufficient military aid from Western allies, saying it is not enough to even equip “four out of 14 brigades.”
In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine explained that army units are struggling to fend off devastating Russian attacks due to being under-equipped.
He emphasized that Kyiv needs at least 14 fully-equipped brigades “to be ready,” but recent military aid packages were not enough to sufficiently arm even a third of that.
“We need to equip 14 brigades — we still don’t have it. Out of this package, we have not even equipped four brigades… Therefore, we need to produce drones domestically. It’s not enough, but we have done it,” Zelensky stated.
Ukraine is continuing its surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, but reports suggest Moscow is preparing to mount a counter-offensive.
‘We Used All We Could’
Zelensky noted that an eight-month hiatus in US military aid had significantly depleted Ukraine’s weapons reserves.
He was referring to a $61-billion supplemental aid bill for Kyiv that had been stalled in the US Congress until April 2024.
The President explained that the Ukrainian Defense Forces “had used everything they had” to defend themselves from Russian assaults.
“We transferred everything that was in the stockpiles – in warehouses and in reserve brigades,” he said. “We took everything [we] had – all [our] weapons.”
‘Make Ukraine Strong’
Zelensky argued that the number of brigades protecting Ukraine’s territories is irrelevant if “half of them are not equipped.”
He pointed out that Kyiv’s forces lack armored vehicles and artillery shells, with the Russians firing 12 times more rounds than Ukrainian troops.
He also challenged Western nations to make Ukraine strong to see Russian President Vladimir Putin “sit down and negotiate.”
