US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said there was intense military activity underway in parts of Ukraine, stopping short of saying whether Kyiv’s much-anticipated counteroffensive against Russia had begun.
(Bloomberg) — US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said there was intense military activity underway in parts of Ukraine, stopping short of saying whether Kyiv’s much-anticipated counteroffensive against Russia had begun.
“This is not like a D-Day landing on a beach,” Sullivan told reporters accompanying President Joe Biden to a Group of Seven summit in Japan. “These types of military operations are more dynamic, more layered, more multifaceted.”
He said the question was “in the eye of the beholder,” adding that he would defer to Ukraine to characterize its military action.
Speculation has intensified about whether Ukraine’s big push to reclaim its territory was imminent with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy back from a tour of European capitals making a plea for more weapons. The campaign is widely expected to start in late Spring or early summer as the mud dries on the ground.
The reality is that it simply won’t be obvious when and how the counteroffensive has officially started given that Ukraine has every interest in keeping its strategy a secret.
Western officials have said privately that if the push stalls, pressure will mount on Zelenskiy to enter into some sort of negotiation with Russia despite his reluctance to do so.
Zelenskiy will likely get more overseas help and financial backing if his troops manage to claw back territory that Russia seized at the start of its invasion more than a year ago.
He visited allies in Europe in recent days to ask for more firepower, including F-16 fighter jets that the US has so far refused to provide.
Sullivan said he had no update on the fighter jet question, but that he did expect G-7 leaders to engage on the issue.
The US and its allies are also expected to announce a plan to target people and companies evading sanctions levied against Russia since the invasion began.
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