Half of the Western weapons promised to Ukraine are being delivered late, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Sunday, AFP reports.

“Now commitments are not synonymous with fulfillment, 50% of (these) commitments are not fulfilled on time,” the minister said at a forum dedicated to the second anniversary of the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Because of these delays, “we’re losing people, we’re losing territory,” he added.

The Ukrainian army, finding itself in an extremely difficult situation at the front, was forced after months of fierce fighting to withdraw from its fortress city of Avdiyivka (in the east), citing a lack of men and ammunition.

In recent days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has repeatedly called on his Western allies to provide military aid “on time”, in particular demanding ammunition, more air defense systems and fighter jets.

“You know very well what we need to protect our airspace, strengthen our land forces, what we need to sustain and continue our successes at sea, and you know very well that we need it in time, and we rely on you.” Zelenskyi said this during the G7 summit via video conference on Saturday, on the day of the two-year anniversary of the start of Russian military aggression.

The President of Ukraine also estimated that delays in arms deliveries contributed to the failure of Kyiv’s counteroffensive in the summer of 2023. “We had a lot of very good things, a lot of very important things last year on the counteroffensive, but not all of them made it to the time,” he explained on Friday.

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