Ukraine to make its own decisions on counter-offensive, Blinken says

“Ukraine has to make decisions about how it can most effectively defend itself against Russian aggression and take back the territory that’s been seized from it," Blinken said.

He said the United States provides support and advice, but Ukraine will make the decision on its own.

Blinken also refused to comment on the allegedly leaked U.S. "classified documents". The secret documents detailing the situation in Ukraine, said by U.S. officials to be genuine, began to circulate on social media in early March, Aric Toler of the open-source investigative organization Bellingcat reported on Twitter.

The documents appear to have been altered (in particular, altering reported numbers of casualties, exaggerating Ukrainian ones and lowering Russian ones) shortly after they were initially posted.

Read also:

• US believes Russia is behind classified military documents leak

• Document leaks will not affect planned counteroffensive, Ukraine says

• Leaked Pentagon documents significantly inaccurate, UK warns

Other leaked U.S. documents apparently indicate that the United States has doubts that Ukraine will be able to liberate much of its territory in the widely anticipated counter-offensive this spring.

Other details in the documents reveal the extent of U.S. spying on its allies, notably South Korea, and evidence that Egypt, which has received billions of dollars in U.S. aid, was considering selling rockets to Russia. There is no evidence the sale went ahead, however.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin previously said that Ukrainian forces have a good chance of a successful counter-offensive this spring.

Later, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov stated that the counter-offensive should begin in April-May of this year on several fronts.

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