WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday that he believes Ukrainian forces can retake Kherson from Russian forces, in perhaps his most optimistic comments on the pivotal campaign to date.
“On the issue of whether the Ukrainians can take the remaining territory on the west side of the Dnipro river and (in) Kherson, I certainly believe that they have the capability to do that,” Austin said during a press conference with his South Korean counterpart.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Chris Reese)
