Ukraine’s minister of defense warned his western partners Sunday that if they "procrastinate" over the supply of aircraft to Ukraine, more Ukrainians will die.
"If we will have a procrastination or reluctance with aircraft platforms, it will cost us more lives, more blood of Ukrainians," Oleksiy Reznikov told reporters in Kyiv.
Reznikov appeared to concede that the most readily available and Ukraine's preferred western aircraft, American F-16s, were no longer an option on the table with western partners.
He said Sweden’s Gripen fighter jets are still an option. Ukrainian officials have previously mentioned the Gripen as a possibility in conversations with ABC News about weapons supplies.
"I’m sure we will have (western) aircraft," Reznikov said.
Reznikov also spoke of the fierce fighting being wage in the city of Bakhmut in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Reznikov described the city as a “stronghold” which Russia has been trying to occupy for months.
Reznikov said 500 Russian soldiers a day are being injured or killed in the fight for Bukhmut and that Ukrainian casualties are significantly lower.
Any strategic decision on whether or not to withdraw, Reznikov said, would be made by Ukrainian generals and is "not a political decision."
-ABC News Tom Soufi Burridge