Ukraine in discussions with US to acquire long-range weapons to fight Russian forces: Ukrainian President

Kyiv [Ukraine], July 7 : Ukraine is holding discussions with the United States to acquire long-range weapons to fight off Russian forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday, CNN reported.

Zelenskyy while speaking alongside Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, said: "Without long-range weapons, it is difficult not only to carry out an offensive mission but to be honest, also to conduct a defensive operation."

"We talk about it, about appropriate weapons, with our partners. First and foremost, we are talking about long-range systems with the United States," he said.

"It depends only on them as of today," he added, as per CNN.

Zelensky explained that without those weapons, Russia maintained the upper hand in certain situations.

"It is very difficult. It means that you are defending your land and you cannot reach the appropriate distance to destroy your enemy. That is, the enemy has a distance advantage," he said, according to CNN.

Zelenskyy recently said that Putin's response to the armed Wagner rebellion was "weak" and that the Russian President is losing control of his own people, CNN reported.

As per CNN, Putin faced the greatest threat to his authority in two decades last month when the head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, launched a short-lived uprising, claiming control of military facilities in two Russian cities and marching toward Moscow before he agreed to stand down.

Zelenskyy in an exclusive interview with CNN said: "We see Putin's reaction. It's weak."

"Firstly, we see he doesn't control everything. Wagner's moving deep into Russia and taking certain regions shows how easy it is to do. Putin doesn't control the situation in the regions," he said.

"All that vertical of power he used to have is just crumbling down."