Ukrainian foreign minister tells Western backers critical of Kiev's counteroffensive to 'shut up'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has told its Western backers, who have been critical of Kiev for its forces' slow counteroffensive against Russian troops, that they were spitting in the faces of Ukrainian soldiers and should "shut up".

"Criticising the slow pace of (the) counter-offensive equals ... spitting into the face of (the) Ukrainian soldier who sacrifices his life every day, moving forward and liberating one kilometer of Ukrainian soil after another," Kuleba told reporters at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Spain on Thursday.

Western officials over the past weeks have criticized Kiev, receiving ten-of-billions of dollars worth of weapons and munitions while failing to deliver on its promises of victory on the battlefield and just asking for more.

Kiev launched its hugely-publicized counteroffensive against Russian troops in June but failed to pass the Russian defense lines and switched instead to causing disruption deep inside Russia by launching drone and missile attacks on the capital city Moscow and elsewhere.

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"I would recommend all critics to shut up, come to Ukraine, and try to liberate one square centimeter by themselves," Kuleba said during the joint news conference in Toledu.

Earlier, Ukraine’s foreign minister had said the potential dwindling support to Kiev from the United States was not a matter of concern.

"We are not feeling any fall in support from the (US) Congress, in the European Parliament,” Kuleba said in Paris on Tuesday.

Kuleba linked Washington’s criticism of Kiev to elections in the United States, claiming the ex-Soviet country would "overcome it."

“In the United States it's linked to the start of the electoral cycle," he said. "We will find a way through."

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Reports in past weeks in the New York Times, Washington Post, and other news outlets cited US and other Western officials as suggesting the Ukrainians' counteroffensive was falling short of expectations.

Some faulted Ukraine's military strategy, saying Kiev was concentrating its firepower in the wrong places.

Ukrainian commanders say they aim to degrade Russia's defenses and logistics to reduce losses when they finally attack at full strength. However, Moscow says the Ukrainian full-scale counteroffensive has failed.

Some Western officials have come to see the support for Ukraine as their loss and a distraction from their own domestic problems.

Russia has frequently warned that the continued supply of Western weapons and munitions to the Ukrainian military would only prolong the war, add to losses, and exacerbate the sufferings of the Ukrainian nation.

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