Ukraine’s counteroffensive did not achieve its “desired results,” Volodymr Zelensky has said, as he admitted they wanted “faster results”.

The Ukrainian president told the Associated Press: “We wanted faster results. From that perspective, unfortunately, we did not achieve the desired results. And this is a fact.”

Ukraine did not get all the weapons it needed from allies, he said, and limits in the size of [our] military force precluded a quick advance, he said.

“There is not enough power to achieve the desired results faster. But this does not mean that we should give up, that we have to surrender,” Mr Zelensky said. “We are confident in our actions. We fight for what is ours.”

He added that he was “satisfied” and said Ukraine was “not backing down”.

Elsewhere in the interview, he admitted that “only the blind” cannot see the consequences of international attention shifting because of the tragedy in the Middle East, adding that Ukraine had to “fight for attention”.

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