Pavel, the Czech president, warned during recent meetings with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Denys Schmyhal in Kyiv that the Armed Forces of Ukraine lack the element that helped them to successfully assault Kharkiv oblast and Kherson last autumn.
The war hero who was the chair of NATO’s Military Committee until 2018 and received awards from the Czech and French governments for saving French troops during the 1993 Bosnian War, when they were besieged by Serbs, said that Kyiv acknowledges that Ukraine has gaps in its ability to successfully attack Russian troops.
Pavel commented, “It seems that they are still unsure if they have all the necessary tools to begin a successful operation.”
Pavel, the Czech leader, said that as preparations were still in progress, he had appealed to Ukraine PMs during meetings last weekend not to “be pushed into a quicker pace before they are completely prepared”. He explained that it could be tempting to “push them” to show results.
Pavel stated that a failure of this counteroffensive would be extremely damaging to Ukraine, as they wouldn’t have a second chance at least this year.
He said that Ukraine cannot afford to fail, as it will face “terrible” losses regardless of how strong its military is.
“Because the logistics of ammunition, personnel equipment, and fuel financing are extremely difficult.” “This is the only chance we have this year, and we must make it count.”
The expected counteroffensive was described by Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, as Ukraine’s “last big opportunity”.