"The war is slowing down, we recognize that." The Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, has been so blunt in a conference within the framework of the 18th meeting of the Yalta European Strategy "The future is decided in Ukraine", held this Friday in Kyiv.
Zelensky has acknowledged that Russian air superiority is slowing down the counteroffensive carried out by the Ukrainian army. "If we are not in heaven and Russia is, this prevents us from being in heaven. They (the Russian army) stop our counteroffensive," the president said.
The Ukrainian president has also complained about the slow pace of sanctions against Moscow and the slowdown in Western military aid. "When partners tell us 'what is the next step in the counteroffensive?', my response is that today our steps are probably faster than the new sanctions packages," he lamented.
Zelensky has once again stressed that if the Westerners delivered faster long-range munitions, allowing them to attack Russian defenses, rear and logistics, the Ukrainian army would also advance faster. As he puts it, "Each specific weapon has a specific impact. The more powerful and long-range it is, the faster the counteroffensive will be."
The West only supplies munitions of this type in dribs and drabs, fearing that Kyiv, despite its promises, will use them to bomb Russian territory, something that could provoke a military escalation.
Similarly, Ukraine has also complained for months about the slow pace of negotiations over the delivery of F-16 fighters, as the country only has a small, aging fleet of Soviet-era aircraft.
After months of delays, Ukraine will receive several dozen of these fighters from European countries, although their arrival on the battlefield will take months, given the delays in crew training.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive launched in June in the east and south struggles to advance despite Russian air superiority. The complex network of defense lines, particularly in the south, made up of trenches, minefields and anti-tank bombs does not help either.
However, Ukraine hopes to be able to open a breach in the Robotyné area, in the south, after taking this town considered strategic. Moscow has so far not admitted a withdrawal in this area and reports daily fighting in the sector.
To questions from journalists at the same appearance, Zelenski assured that Russian President Vladimir Putin is behind the death of the leader of the Wagner paramilitary mercenary organization, Yevgueni Prigozhin, who died on August 23 in a plane crash in Moscow, the causes of which are still unknown.
"The fact that (Putin) has killed Prigozhin - at least that is the information that we all have, not of any other kind - also speaks of his rationality and the fact that he is weak," Zelensky has said of Putin, although without providing any evidence.
For its part, the Kremlin calls it an "absolute lie" that Putin ordered the death of Prigozhin and his men. Then, Russian authorities confirm that they will investigate all possible causes of the accident, including the possibility that a crime has been committed.
Prigozhin led a brief mutiny in Russia last June that posed the biggest challenge to Putin's government since he came to power in 1999. An uprising that led Putin to accuse its perpetrators of "treason" and "stabbing in the back." ".
Many Putin critics have died in unclear circumstances during his 23 years in power. A long list of suspicious deaths increases suspicions about the causes of Prigozhin's death.
