Ukrainian defense forces prevented a large-scale Russian offensive that it planned to continue this spring, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with CNN, LETA reports citing 'Ukrainska Pravda'.
“Russia prepared a large offensive operation that it wanted to start at the end of last year and continue this spring. In response, we conducted counterattacks ourselves to prevent a large-scale Russian offensive,” Zelensky said.
This was largely made possible by Ukrainian drone technologies. Currently, Russia loses 30,000–35,000 servicemen monthly due to FPV and other types of drones, the president noted.
Zelensky also stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin never wanted to end the war against Ukraine.
“He was afraid of President [Donald] Trump and U.S. pressure. That’s why he played this game, pretending that he wanted negotiations,” the Ukrainian president explained.
“I still believe that America should increase pressure on Putin. Otherwise, he will not negotiate in good faith. He only wants to make ultimatums to Ukraine, such as demanding that we withdraw our troops from our territory. But that will not satisfy his appetites,” Zelensky noted.
According to the president, due to the war with Iran, Russia is receiving more money.
“Our intelligence services report that due to all the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the European Union (EU), as well as due to our long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, Russia faced a deficit of over $100 billion only in 2026,” Zelensky said.
“Now we see that in just two weeks of war in the Middle East, they earned about ten billion. This is really dangerous. It gives Putin more confidence that he can continue the war,” the president of Ukraine warned.
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