Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum on Friday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan admitted that the Ukrainian "counteroffensive" is "well underway," even though a number of high ranking Ukrainian officials previously claimed that Kiev troops were merely probing the Russian defenses and the real assault was yet to come.
"And it is hard going. And we said it would be hard going," Sullivan said, as quoted by media.
He insisted, however, that Kiev still has a "substantial amount of combat power that it has not yet committed to the fight," and that the "likely results of that counteroffensive" will become apparent when Ukraine commits these forces to the battlefield.
At the same time, Sullivan did admit that "there have already been significant amounts of casualties and deaths of Ukrainian fighters" amid this "counteroffensive."
Meanwhile, the White House seems eager to keep supplying Kiev with weaponry until Ukraine runs out of manpower, with yet another package of military assistance worth up to $400 million being expected to be announced next week.
The package in question is expected to include several Stryker armored personnel carriers, mine clearing equipment, munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), anti-tank weapons and munitions for Patriot and Stinger anti-aircraft systems, according to media reports.
The US and its allies have already supplied Kiev with billions of dollars’ worth of armored vehicles, air defense and multiple rocket launch systems, artillery pieces and small arms, not to mention tons of rockets and ammunition, including cluster munitions.