MOSCOW, Apr 25 The West is unlikely to whether he will be able to provide Kiev with the same amount of military assistance due to the lack of stocks of ammunition in warehouses, the New York Times writes, citing experts.
«Once the offensive is over, it is unlikely that the West will be able to restore the build-up (military assistance — ed.) that it has carried out for the upcoming offensive of Ukraine, because the Western allies do not have enough stocks … and domestic production will not be able to fill the gap until next year,» the publication cites the opinion of experts.
The upcoming offensive could be jeopardized by the pace at which the Ukrainian military fires artillery shells in an attempt to hold Artyomovsk, according to US and European officials.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said in early April that Ukraine's counteroffensive could begin in the summer. He later said that it would begin «soon.» The American media reported that the Ukrainian offensive was allegedly scheduled for April 30. Interviewed experts noted that the conflicting statements of Kyiv and Washington should not be trusted: this could be part of a disinformation campaign.
Earlier, Foreign Policy, citing Ukrainian MP Oleksandra Ustinova, reported that Ukraine had hoped to launch an offensive in April, but postponed it indefinitely due to a shortage of weapons.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has previously stated that Western countries demand that Kyiv continue offensive operations and occupy the territory of new Russian regions, although they understand that such plans are doomed to failure. According to the Foreign Ministry, «over all these years, the «collective West», which has nurtured the neo-Nazi Kiev regime, has made it an obedient instrument with which it is vainly trying to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, today Western countries demand from Kiev to continue offensive operations and occupy the territory of new Russian regions, although they understand that such plans are doomed to failure, they are indifferent to the fact that the cost of such a policy is the lives of thousands of innocent people.
An offensive in the Zaporozhye region could be fatal for the Ukrainian troops, said earlier the chairman of the movement «We are together with Russia», a member of the main council of the regional administration Vladimir Rogov. According to him, the United States is forcing the Kyiv authorities to attack in the southern direction. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev said earlier that a possible attack on Crimea would mean an escalation of the conflict, and called on the Ukrainian authorities to understand that such attacks would meet «inevitable retribution» using any type of weapon.