Frontline situation “very difficult”, but war fought in Ukraine unique - Danilov
Ukraine's counteroffensive hopes did not come true, but this does not mean that victory will not be on Ukraine's side.
That’s according to Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, who spoke in an interview with the BBC, Ukrinform reports.
Currently, the government of Ukraine is trying to have a package of Western aid unblocked, in particular that from the United States. Danilov believes that at least some defense assistance will "surely come through."
"If it happens so that we receive a gift before Christmas, we will be happy with that. But if it will happen a bit later, then it shouldn't be made into a tragedy," Danilov stressed.
When asked whether Ukraine would lose the war if U.S. aid stopped, he refused to consider such a possibility, because "truth is on our side".
"Will Putin destroy us before humanity's eyes? Will he be killing our children, our women, our elderly men? And will the whole world watch with their eyes closed? Then the question should be, in what world do we live?" said secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
He also dismissed reports of tension between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
"I do not confirm that any such things that are being articulated in the media today are real," Danilov said.
Reflecting on his statement, made in May on the eve of the counteroffensive, that the coming months provide a "historic opportunity," Danilov noted that at the time, "every citizen of our country wanted the war to end quickly.
"There were hopes, but they did not come true. The fact that we have been defending our country for two years is already a big victory," he added.
He described the current situation at the front as "very difficult" and said that the old "textbooks" for war, including NATO ones, "should be sent back to the archives".
"There hasn't been a war like the one we have in our country - not in the 20th nor the 21st Century," he argued.
"I can say for sure that we won't stop," he said. "We will continue fighting for our freedom, for our independence," Danilov underlined.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Ukrainian government intend to introduce changes into the military conscription algorithm in order to maintain combat capability almost two years into Russia’s full-scale invasion.