US Secretary of State says that Ukraine has already liberated 50% of its territory occupied by Russia
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Ukraine has already liberated half of the territory that Russia initially occupied during its invasion, but Kiev will have to fight a "very hard fight" to liberate even more territory, Reuters and Agerpres inform.
"About 50 percent of what was originally occupied (by Russia) has already been released," Blinken said in an interview with CNN. "These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It's hard," Blinken said. "This is not going to end in the next week or two. I think we will continue to watch this for several months," the US secretary of state added.
Hopes that Ukraine could quickly drive Moscow's forces from Ukrainian territory after launching a counter-offensive this summer are dimming as Kiev's troops battle hard to break through Russian entrenchments in southern and eastern Ukraine.
Late last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said progress against Russian forces was "slower than desired" but that Kiev's forces were under no pressure to speed up their counteroffensive.
