Ukraine Has Recaptured 50 Per Cent Of Its Russian-Seized Territory, Says Antony Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confirmed that Ukraine has recaptured around 50 per cent of its territory that was seized by Russia during the invasion.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that Ukraine has recaptured half of the territory that Russia seized during the invasion and it has fought a 'very hard fight' to do so. In an interview with CNN, he said, "It's already taken back about 50% of what was initially seized. These are still relatively early days of the counter-offensive. It is tough. It will not play out over the next week or two. We're still looking I think at several months," reported news agency Reuters.

Speaking on Sunday with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Blinken claimed that Russia's full ambitions for the invasion "failed a long time ago" and reported that around half of the occupied territories had been retaken by Ukraine, while also stressing that the country's counteroffensive is still in its early stages.

"In terms of what Russia sought to achieve, what Putin sought to achieve, they've already failed," Blinken said. "They've already lost. The objective was to erase Ukraine from the map, to eliminate its independence, its sovereignty, to subsume it into Russia. That failed a long time ago."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was quoted last month as saying that the counteroffensive's progress against the Russians was 'slower than desired'. Ukraine hasn't made a major breakthrough against heavily defended Russian lines yet despite capturing some villages in the south and territory around the ruined city of Bakhmut in the east.

When Blinken was asked whether Ukraine will get U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets or not then he responded by saying that he believed it would. He added, "And the important focus is on making sure that when they do, they’re properly trained, they’re able to maintain the planes, and use them in a smart way."

A coalition of 11 nations will start the training for Ukrainian pilots to teach them how to fly the F-16 fighter jets in August in Denmark, and a training centre for the same will be set up in Romania.

Ukraine for a long time has been appealing for the Lockheed Martin-made (LMT.N) F-16s, but US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said last month that there was no final decision on whether Washington will send the aircraft or not. As per the estimation of US officials, the training and delivery of the planes would take at least 18 months.

Since the inception of Russia's invasion of Ukraine viz. In February 2022, the US has given Ukraine more than $41 billion in military aid.