The President’s Office of Ukraine clarifies that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not regard the current situation at the front as a stalemate.

"In an interview of the President of Ukraine to the Italian RAI TV channel, it was not about the alleged ‘stalemate’ situation at the front. Speaking about the results of the summer actions, Zelenskyy said that their maritime part gave a positive result: Ukraine was able to restore an independent ‘grain corridor,’ but the land part of the transactions ended in stagnation. We are talking specifically about counter-offensive actions in the south. This does not give the right to generally describe the situation at the front as a ‘stalemate,’" presidential spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov wrote on Facebook on Monday.

"Ukraine will continue to de-occupy its territories. In the future, we urge you to choose your words more carefully so as not to support destructive narratives," the press secretary of the head of state also wrote.

At the same time, Nykyforov gave an exact quote from Zelenskyy. "Thereafter, I give the original response of the President of Ukraine: "I would say this: the naval part of the operation had a positive effect – we displaced their ships, Russia lost many ships, and most importantly, it lost influence in the World Cup, and we built a ‘grain corridor’ independent of Russia. Therefore, this part, the pragmatic part of the operation, which affected the economy and the budget of Ukraine, was positively conducted. As for the land line, you are right and there is stagnation. And this is a fact, because something was missing. Sometimes you think that we are about to go ahead. I believe there have been delays in terms of the amount of appropriate ammunition. And delays are a miscalculation. But, to be honest, we are not just fighting a terrorist organization – we are fighting terrorists, who are one of the largest armies in the world."