NNA – Ukraine#39;s Prime Minister Denys Shmygal on Thursday warned that his country#39;s counter-offensive against invading Russian forces quot;will take timequot; but said he was quot;optimisticquot; about its success.
Early this month, Kyiv#39;s military launched its highly anticipated counter-offensive in an effort to claw back territory lost since Moscow#39;s troops invaded Ukraine in February last year.
quot;We will do very smart, offensive operations. And because of this, it (the counter-offensive) will take time,quot; Shmygal said on the sidelines of a Ukraine reconstruction conference in London.
quot;But we have the intention to move and go ahead. We are going to go ahead… and I#39;m absolutely optimistic for the liberation of all our lands occupied by Russians,quot; he added.
He said the counter-offensive quot;is a number of military operations. Sometimes it#39;s offensive. Sometimes it#39;s defensivequot;.
quot;Unfortunately, during our preparation for this counter-offensive Russians were preparing too, so there are so many minefields, which really makes it slower to move,quot; he said.
Ukraine#39;s President Volodymyr Zelensky in a BBC interview on Wednesday admitted that battlefield progress had been quot;slower than desiredquot;.
But he said that quot;some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It#39;s notquot;.
Russia said Thursday that Ukrainian forces in eastern and southern Ukraine were temporarily limiting their efforts to reclaim Russian-held territory. mdash; AFPnbsp;
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