Washington: Former US Vice-President Mike Pence said on Sunday that Ukraine was winning its war against Russia, crediting Kyiv’s forces with fighting Moscow to a stalemate and transforming modern drone warfare.
Speaking to CNN from Ukraine after meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky, Pence said the country remained resolute despite a series of deadly Russian attacks.
“Ukraine is winning this war,” Pence said.
“Ukraine’s military on the front lines has fought Russia to a stalemate.”
Pence was in Ukraine to attend a national prayer breakfast marking 35 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukraine’s independence.
Thousands of people from Ukraine and other countries attended the gathering, the former Vice-President added.
“The sense you have of the deep resolve, not only of the leadership from President Zelensky on down, but rank-and-file military, everyday Ukrainians, is palpable,” Pence said.
The former Vice-President said Ukraine had effectively redesigned drone warfare. Its forces had carried attacks into Russia and sunk ships in the Black Sea.
His comments came after a Russian “double-tap” strike killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 100 others, according to CNN. The attack followed major strikes on Kyiv.
Pence said Russia had recently begun firing high-arc ballistic missiles at Ukrainian targets.
Ukraine could counter drones but needed sophisticated interceptors to defend against those missiles, he added.
He also warned that Russia could intensify attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities as winter approached.
“One of the things President Zelensky made clear to me is that he fully expects that, as winter approaches sooner than later, that Putin will start to strike not just children’s schools and a hospital, as he did this week, not just a shopping mall, taking more than a dozen lives, but that he will start to strike that energy infrastructure,” Pence said.
CNN reported that the Iran war had contributed to a shortage of Patriot interceptors.
The US had used around half of its Patriot missile supply while defending against Iranian attacks, it said.
Asked whether Ukraine was paying the price for President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, Pence said he did not view the situation that way.
“I don’t see it that way, and I don’t think the Ukrainians do either,” he added.
Pence suggested South Korea could help ease the shortage.
He said that Seoul had sophisticated interceptors that could be supplied to the United States for deployment in the Middle East or Ukraine.
They could also be provided to European allies, he added.
“This might be an opportunity for President Lee to step forward, make those interceptors available to the United States,” Pence said.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 after occupying and annexing Crimea in 2014.
The war has since developed into Europe’s largest armed conflict since the Second World War.
Ukraine relies heavily on US and European weapons, ammunition and financial assistance.
(IANS)
