Most of the leaked material is dated from January, February and March. Officials have accused a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard of mishandling classified documents.
“Where Ukraine might have been a month ago, two months ago, three months ago, is not where it is now in terms of its ability, for example, to prosecute a counteroffensive and to – in the face of Russia’s continued aggression,” Blinken said, speaking at an event marking World Press Freedom Day hosted by Washington Post Live.
The government of President Volodymyr Zelensky is preparing to launch a long-awaited operation aimed at recapturing vast territories seized by Russian forces after President Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February 2022. The leaders in Kyiv also pledged to push Russia out of Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula illegally annexed by Putin in 2014 and heavily fortified.
While Ukraine’s military has fared better against Russia than Western countries expected, it has also gained less territory since last year. A leaked US assessment predicts that Ukrainian forces, facing shortages in heavy weapons, ammunition and manpower, are likely to make only “moderate territorial gains” in its spring campaign.
Both militaries suffered heavy casualties, but despite this, neither side appeared inclined to negotiate an end to the war. Moscow earlier on Wednesday accused the Ukrainian government of a botched attempt to assassinate the Russian leader and said it “reserves the right to respond.” Officials in Kyiv denied responsibility, suggesting instead that the foiled attack was carried out by “local resistance forces” and was exploited by the Kremlin to justify Russia’s targeting of Ukrainian civilians.
Blinken, who said that Western countries have provided Ukraine with a lot of weapons and training, said he was “confident that they will succeed in retaking their territory.” For Putin, he added, the war proved fruitless.
“Russia wanted to erase Ukraine from the map, to eliminate its independence, to pass it to Russia. That failed,” he said.
Throughout the conflict, Blinken has expressed confidence in Ukraine’s military strength even as its forces have complained about ammunition and equipment shortages, and progress on the ground has slowed. But he also suggested that the war may not end, as Kyiv’s leaders have promised, with the recapture of every inch of their country.
“Where exactly this will settle remains to be seen,” Blinken said. “And Ukraine has to make important decisions about exactly where it’s going to go, how far it can go, and how it wants to pursue it. But we’re determined to continue that support.”
Zelensky expressed dismay about the Discord leak – which also detailed sensitive Ukrainian vulnerabilities in areas including air defense – and his anger about the lack of follow-up from US officials.
Blinken said he spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba about the leaks after the material was made public. In that conversation, Blinken said, he announced that the United States “deeply regrets the unauthorized disclosure of these documents” and arrested the person allegedly responsible.
Blinken said Ukraine and other countries have benefited from “extraordinary information” produced by US intelligence agencies, with most of Kyiv’s intelligence signals being run by remote monitoring programs. in electronic America. He said the foreign partners did not express anger to him about the leaks.
Blinken praised last week’s phone call between Zelensky and Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying it was “very important that China and other countries seeking to promote peace hear from the victim, not only the aggressor.”
Earlier this year, Xi introduced a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine, but has not spoken to Zelensky since the start of the conflict while having calls and a meeting with Putin. US officials have warned China, Russia’s most powerful foreign ally, against supplying Moscow with weapons.
Blinken said it was possible that China could play a productive role in ending the war and that Xi’s peace plan included “positive” elements. But he said it was unclear whether the Chinese leader still accepted that Ukraine was the victim and Russia the aggressor in the conflict.