US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Ukrainian forces had made important progress in their counter-offensive against Russian troops, although it was too early to predict the outcome.
“Clearly we’ve seen significant progress by the Ukrainians, particularly in the northeast, and that is a product of the support we’ve provided, but first and foremost it’s a product of the extraordinary courage and resilience of the Ukrainian armed forces and the Ukrainian people,” Blinken told reporters in Mexico City.
“It’s too early to tell exactly where this is going. The Russians maintain very significant forces in Ukraine as well as equipment and arms and munitions. They continue to use it indiscriminately against not just the Ukrainian armed forces but civilians and civilian infrastructure as we’ve seen,” Blinken added.
Ukraine has claimed sweeping successes in its lightning counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region in the northeast, as well as significant gains in the southern Kherson region.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that Ukrainian forces had recaptured 6,000 square kilometers (2,320 square miles) of territory from Russia this month.