Last week, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Gen. Valery Zaluzhny held a five-hour meeting with UK Chief of the Defense Staff Adm. Tony Radakin and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the newspaper said. Their discussions reportedly focused on ways to bolster Ukraine's counteroffensive as well as battle strategy for the coming winter and 2024.
Following the meeting, Ukraine's strategy changed, as Kiev started "focusing on the Zaporozhye front" in an effort to cut Russia's land bridge to Crimea, the media said, citing an insider.
Later in the day, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak confirmed that Zaluzhny took part in a meeting with NATO generals on the Polish-Ukrainian border.
"It was a secret meeting. Actually, Zaluzhny actively communicates with representatives of the defense ministries and general staffs of our partners, almost every day, because we need to make adjustments regarding tactics and strategy at the front, make adjustments regarding the resources that we have, explain to partners what and in which direction we need," Podolyak told a Ukrainian broadcaster.
Podolyak added that Zaluzhny most often negotiates with the United States and the United Kingdom since the military command of these countries "knows and understands what is happening at the front" better than others.
On Tuesday, the US media reported that the United States urged the Ukrainian military leadership not to divide troops between the east and south, but to concentrate them in the south as was advised by American planners of the counteroffensive.
Ukraine launched a counteroffensive against Russian forces in early June after multiple postponements. Citing the counteroffensive's needs, Kiev pushed its Western donors to step up the military and financial aid.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian troops continue to try but are failing to advance in three directions — South Donetsk, Artemovsk (Bakhmut), and Zaporozhye, with the latter being the primary focus. The Russian Defense Ministry's estimated, as of August 4, that Ukraine lost about 43,000 troops and 4,900 units of military equipment during the counteroffensive.