Ukraine says no plans to stop fighting war during winter

ISTANBUL

The Ukrainian army has no plans to stop its offensive in the war with Russia during winter, the nation's defense minister said on Thursday.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said during an interview on Thursday that the Ukrainian army does not plan to stop its offensive during the winter months.

"My personal assessment is the following: our armed forces do not plan to stop," Oleksii Reznikov said during an interview with New York-based news magazine Newsweek, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war which, ongoing since February, is now heading into winter.

"We have stockpiles of winter gear that are three times larger than critical levels … We just need to wait for the ground to become less wet," he added.

Answering a question on the need for additional resources, Reznikov said it is a "war of resources and resources are finite on their side as well."

He added: "We just need to keep being resilient."

Reznikov's statements came as the Kremlin ruled out a possible New Year cease-fire in Ukraine.

"No proposals have been received from anyone, there is no such topic on the agenda," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

As of Monday, civilian casualties in the ongoing Moscow-Kyiv war reached 17,362, including 6,755 deaths and 10,607 injuries, according to the UN figures.