Ukraine, US agree on updated counteroffensive options

The United States is committed to supporting Ukraine for as long as necessary and supporting a successful counteroffensive, US secretary of state Anthony Blinken assured his Ukrainian counterpart in a phone call on Tuesday.

In a tweet following the call, Mr Blinken said that he and Dmytro Kuleba discussed “updates to Ukraine’s counteroffensive and air defence options.”

“We’re committed to standing with Ukraine as long as it takes, and to supporting a successful counteroffensive,” the US state secretary added.

Mr Kuleba said yesterday that his American counterpart “strongly rejected any attempts to question Ukraine's ability to win on the battlefield.”

In late March, Ukraine’s defence ministry called for refraining from publicly discussing the planned counteroffensive, although Ukrainian officials continue to do so.

Earlier, president Zelenskyy said that Ukraine could not yet launch the counteroffensive because it was waiting for supplies of ammunition and weapons from its Western allies.