Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov in an interview with Current Time on June 19 provided few details about Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive but stressed the importance of the military support Kyiv is receiving from European countries and his hopes to celebrate his 58th birthday next year in Crimea.
Reznikov highlighted in the interview that the Netherlands and Denmark have agreed to train Ukrainian military pilots, engineers, mechanics, and technicians to make it possible for Ukraine to get F-16 fighter jets from the West. According to Reznikov, Ukrainian pilots need four-to-six weeks to get trained to operate F-16s.
He also noted a tank agreement with Lithuania and Poland that calls for establishing a maintenance hub in Poland for Leopard tanks that have been supplied to Ukraine.
In addition, Estonia and Luxemburg have supported the proposal to create an IT coalition to assist Ukraine to conduct its counteroffensive against occupying Russian armed forces, he said.
In excerpts released ahead of the publication of the full interview, Reznikov said Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive was facing more difficulties than last year's push to liberate the Kharkiv region and parts of the Kherson region due to a different landscape and weather conditions.
SEE ALSO: You're Hearing A Lot About Ukraine's New Counteroffensive. One Week In, It's Only Getting Started.The Ukrainian armed forces have suffered losses, he said without providing specifics. But he said Ukrainian officials do everything they can to avoid losses and "cherish every soldier's life," while the Russians do not care about losses and send their troops to "the meat grinder."
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
Reznikov also reflected on the day that Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, saying that within hours on February 24, 2022, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktar Khrenin called him and offered on behalf of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to sign an agreement on capitulation.
Reznikov said he responded immediately, thanking Khrenin for his attempt to mediate and telling him that the only capitulation he would sign would be Russia's.
Referring to more recent calls by some politicians and activists to start talks with Russia to stop the war, Reznikov said that "all attempts to reach some agreements have been destroyed by the Russians."
Many have lined up to try to "reconcile us," and it has turned into a trend, Reznikov said.
"That means it is what Russians want. Why? Because they feel that they are losing what they call a 'special military operation,' they need a pause, to get rested, to lick up their wounds, and come to us with a new war, after which they will launch a war against Europe, I have no doubts about it," Reznikov said.
Reznikov also expressed confidence during the interview that Russian-occupied Crimea will be liberated along with other Ukrainian territories currently held by Russia.
He said that when U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said goodbye to him at the recent Ramstein talks, Austin congratulated him on his upcoming birthday (June 18) and told him that all the defense ministers in the Ramstein group wished him all the best but added that he must invite all of them for dinner.
Reznikov agreed and predicted his next birthday will be celebrated in liberated Crimea.