PRAGUE -- The U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has said it is “too early” to rule out the possibility that Kyiv's counteroffensive against Russian forces will achieve "significant gains."
Ambassador Michael Carpenter said in an interview with RFE/RL on September 15 that the West needs to provide the military capabilities Ukraine’s forces need “to be able to have that breakthrough.”
“I think it's too early at this stage in mid-September to rule out any significant gains in the counteroffensive," Carpenter said. "I think it could still be the case that they could punch through those contiguous lines of defense that the Russians have established.
“I think the bottom line is that we need to cement the Western alliance of countries, continue to stand in unity with Ukraine, and provide cutting-edge military capabilities that they need to be able to have that breakthrough.”
Kyiv launched its counteroffensive in Ukraine's east and south in June but the effort has been slowed by heavily fortified Russian defensive lines. Ukrainian officials have frequently pushed back at criticism about the pace of the Ukrainian military's strategy to take back Russian-occupied territory.
While Washington early this month downplayed such criticism, saying that notable progress has been made, there have been widespread suggestions that public support for continued aid to Ukraine could diminish if the counteroffensive fails to meet high expectations.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that “slower” arms shipments from Western countries are threatening the counteroffensive and called for Ukraine's partners to send more powerful and long-range weapons to push back Russian forces.
Carpenter said that Kyiv’s push for more weapon supplies is understandable, as “the Ukrainians are fighting an existential fight.”
“Their young men and women are dying in the trenches," he said. "And so they need everything they can get.”
The White House confirmed on September 15 that U.S. President Joe Biden will host Zelenskiy at the White House on September 21 and that the Ukrainian president will also visit the U.S. Congress.
Zelenskiy is also slated to speak at the UN General Assembly in New York next week. Zelenskiy is expected to use his in-person appearance with U.S. and world leaders to rally support and plead for advanced weapons and ammunition to fend off Russia's full-scale invasion that began in February 2022.
During Kyiv's counteroffensive, Ukrainian forces have also attacked the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally seized from Ukraine and annexed in 2014.
Carpenter said the General Assembly “is an important time” for Zelenskiy to meet with world leaders and to secure support as Ukraine continues its counteroffensive.
“This is a moment for Zelenskiy to speak to the president but also to the American people,” Carpenter said.
He also said that the visit would be an opportunity “to underscore that Ukraine's fight is not just a desire to reconquer territories that have been occupied by a foreign power, but it's really a fight for the future of the international system as such, for the principles that we, in the OSCE, hold dear -- sovereignty, inviolability of borders, territorial integrity."
Last week, the United States announced new aid for Ukraine totaling more than $1 billion, including over $665 million in military and civilian security assistance.
Washington has been Kyiv’s largest security partner, investing more than $44 billion in security assistance since 2021.
Ukraine is almost entirely dependent on Western military aid and equipment to wage its defense against the Russian invasion, now approaching its 19 month. Kyiv has repeatedly pressed the United States and other allies for more powerful weaponry, such as F-16 fighter jets, which could be put into service as early as next year.