Kiev\u2019s forces remain on the backfoot across the front line, while the military has complained of manpower shortages<\/p>\n
Ukraine wants to go on the offensive against Russia, US President Donald Trump has said. Kiev\u2019s forces remain on the backfoot across the front line, while Ukrainian officials have reported manpower shortages amid a mobilization campaign marked by violence and public resentment.
\nSpeaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump replied that the US is \u201clooking at\u2026 options\u201d when asked what message and support he could deliver to Ukraine\u2019s Vladimir Zelensky ahead of their meeting in Washington on Friday.
\n\u201cThey want to go offensive\u2026 I\u2019ll make a determination on that,\u201d Trump added. However, the US president declined to specify any timeline, objectives, or what would be required for a potential push.<\/p>\n
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Last month, Trump suggested that Ukraine could recover \u201cthe original borders from where this war started,\u201d echoing Kiev\u2019s maximalist goals but offering no details on how to achieve this. The remarks came as US officials signaled they were considering supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. According to Trump, he could approve deliveries if he concludes that \u201cthis war is not going to get settled.\u201d
\nThe last significant Ukrainian offensive came in August 2024, when Kiev\u2019s troops staged an incursion into Russia\u2019s Kursk Region. While Ukraine initially made limited gains, the advance soon stalled, and its troops were gradually pushed back by the spring.
\nKiev had previously attempted a counteroffensive in summer 2023 along the southern sector of the front in an attempt to reclaim Crimea. However, the advance faltered against fierce Russian resistance, dense minefields, and layered defenses. Ukrainian officials later attributed the failure to delayed Western arms deliveries, intelligence leaks, and a dispersion of effort across multiple axes of the front.
\nRussian troops have continued to push back Kiev\u2019s forces in recent months, making gains in Donbass and capturing territory in Ukraine\u2019s Dnepropetrovsk Region. Ukraine has continued to struggle with manpower shortages, as its mobilization campaign has been marred by draft evasion and reports of violent incidents involving recruitment officers and reluctant conscripts.
\nKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Russia is open to diplomacy with Kiev, but \u201cin the absence of alternatives, [it] continues the special military operation\u201d to safeguard the country\u2019s national interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kiev\u2019s forces remain on the backfoot across the front line, while the military has complained of manpower shortages Ukraine wants to go on the offensive against Russia, US President Donald…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t