Ukraine Offensives Are 'Pushing Russians Out,' Jake Sullivan Says

National security adviser Jake Sullivan has lauded Ukraine's counteroffensives against Russian forces in the south and northeast of the country, noting that the U.S. remains in close coordination with the Ukrainian military as it seeks to collapse Russia's front lines.

Speaking by video link at the Yalta European Strategy summit—organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation—in Kyiv on Friday, the national security adviser said Ukrainian advances on multiple fronts are shifting the military balance.

"The Ukrainian military has made progress both in the south and in the east, in moving back Russian lines and showing that this war is not just going in one direction, it's going in the other direction: that's pushing Russians out of positions that they previously occupied," Sullivan said.

"This is good both tactically on the battlefield, and it's good strategically to send a message to Moscow, and to the rest of the world, that Ukraine is intent on taking back territory."

Ukraine's successes are blunting ongoing Russian offensive operations, Sullivan said. "They're having to pull units that they would otherwise be using to try to gain more territory to defend the Ukrainian attacks. This also serves the larger strategic purposes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces."

The speed and extent of Ukraine's counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast appears to have surprised even Ukrainian leaders. The counteroffensive in southern Kherson Oblast is proceeding more slowly, but is still making significant gains.

In Kyiv this weekend, multiple Ukrainian military and civilian leaders cited the recent gains—more than 2,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) and more than 30 settlements, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky—as justification for continued and expanded Western military support.

Sullivan concurred, telling YES attendees recent developments show "that Ukraine is going to contest these occupied areas, and is not going to simply let Russia move forward with the political designs that it has indicated it has for these areas."

In this, Sullivan was referring to the now-delayed "independence" referendums planned for Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.

"We are proud to be supporting this effort logistically with a steady supply of weapons and arms and with close coordination with the Ukrainian Armed Forces in terms of what their needs are," Sullivan said, noting this week's $645 million package. To date, the U.S. has committed more than $15 billion in aid to Kyiv.

Russia is suffering serious defeats, but an end to the fighting still appears distant. Ukrainian leaders have vowed to retake all Ukrainian territory occupied since 2014, including Crimea. Russia is still demanding vague "de-Nazification" and demilitarization of Ukraine. Peace talks have collapsed, and neither side appears keen to revive them.

Ukrainians have railed against perceived European pressure—particularly from France and Germany—to negotiate an end to the war. Sullivan said it will be up to Kyiv to decide how the war concludes.

"Fundamentally, our job is to strengthen their hand on the battlefield, so that we ultimately strengthen their hand at the negotiating table," he said. "President Zelensky has said that this war will definitely end through diplomacy, that diplomacy will have to be a part of it. But the shape of that diplomacy, I think, has to be left to the Ukrainians."

Sullivan also dismissed the suggestion that the White House is seeking regime change in Moscow, an outcome President Joe Biden hinted at in March, which was later walked back.

"The United States' focus on this conflict is not about who's in charge in Moscow, it's about what is happening on the ground in Ukraine and how we can put Ukraine in the best position possible, regardless of who is calling the shots in the Kremlin."