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Western allies concerned at Ukraine’s slow progress in counter offensive against Russia

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – While Ukraine’s allies have not given up hope of a final victory against Russia, senior Western officials have expressed pessimism about the country’s ability to take back control of major Russian-occupied territories, i24News reports.

Ukraine launched a counter-offensive against Russia two months ago, but Western officials note that, in addition to dealing with tens of thousands of Russian land mines and treacherous networks of trenches, Ukrainian forces have had insufficient time for training on tanks and other new weapons systems provided by their allies, i24News reports.

“The Ukrainians are still going to see over the next couple of weeks whether there’s any chance of progress, but I think it’s very, very unlikely that they’re going to actually make any inroads that will change the balance of power in this conflict,” a senior Western official told CNN. “The Russians have several lines of defense, and the Ukrainian forces haven’t really crossed the first line,” the senior official explained. “Even if they continue to fight in the coming weeks, the likelihood of real advances is low. If it didn’t happen in the first eight weeks of fighting, it’s hard to imagine it being possible as Kyiv’s forces become increasingly exhausted.”

In a separate statement to CNN, a senior US military official added that Ukraine’s limited progress accounts for the increased attacks by Ukrainian forces on targets inside Russia, “in an attempt to show the vulnerability” of the enemy,” i24News reports.

Nevertheless, the US official told CNN, Washington is trying to stay optimistic. “We all understand that it’s harder and slower than anyone would like – including the Ukrainians – but we still think there’s time and space for them to move forward,” the US official said.