US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Ukraine has recovered 50 percent of the territory occupied by Russia. Ukrainian troops face an uphill battle to retake the remaining half of the territory.
The US Secretary of State spoke in an interview given to CNN on Sunday (July 23). He said, Ukraine has already taken back about 50 percent of the territory that was initially occupied by Russia.
Blinken said it is still early days for the counteroffensive. It is very difficult. No final decision will be made in the next week or two. I think we're still looking at the next few months.
Meanwhile, hopes that Ukraine could soon push Moscow's military out of Kiev territory after launching a summer counteroffensive are fading, because Kiev's troops are struggling to fight Russian troops in the south and east of the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quoted late last month as saying that the progress of the counteroffensive against Russian forces was slower than desired. But there is no pressure on Kiev to accelerate.
Asked if Ukraine would get US-made F-16 fighter jets, Blinken said he believed it would. But first they have to make sure they are able to fly the planes. And can use them properly
A coalition of 11 countries will begin training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets in Denmark in August, and a training center will be set up in Romania.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, Blinken also spoke about the increasingly tense US relationship with China. He said that efforts are being made to strengthen the line of communication with China. This effort has been taken to avoid a clash between the two global superpowers.