Ukraine has 98% of the material it has requested for the counteroffensive, according to the US

Ukrainian soldiers were taking part in military exercises on Monday in the Kharkiv province. DIMITAR DILKOFF (AFP)

Ukraine already has 98% of the weapons and equipment it has requested to launch the foreseeable counteroffensive against the Russian occupation, according to the White House.

"We have done everything possible to ensure that they are prepared," said the spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, in an appearance before the press on Thursday and in response to a question about the moment in which Kiev could launch the major military operation expected this spring.

At a time when tensions between Washington and Moscow are red hot, after the government of Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of the alleged attempted attack with a drone on the Kremlin in the early hours of Wednesday, Kirby insisted that it remains unclear what exactly happened.

Earlier, the spokesman had accused Russian presidential spokesman Dimitri Peskov of telling "lies" for pointing fingers at the US in what Moscow says was an assassination attempt on Putin.

"We have nothing to do with it," the senior official had insisted, in statements to the MSNBC television network.

Washington is studying what happened carefully, but still does not have "any conclusive evidence" about what happened outside the Kremlin.

It is possible, Kirby said, that "it will never be known what happened."

“Putin's reaction to that alleged attack is up to him.

(...) From the beginning, the Russians have tried to present this war as a kind of combat of the West against Russia, of NATO against Russia, of the United States against Russia, ”he pointed out.

Hence Kirby inscribes Moscow's current accusations in that rhetoric: "They fit."

Moscow has not provided any evidence on the accusations made by Peskov.

A series of videos distributed by Russian media show how a small drone approaches the former residence of the tsars before exploding in flames.

The Ukrainian government has denied any type of responsibility in the incident, and has accused the invading country of having staged the attack to justify a possible escalation of the conflict.

The incident comes as a counter-offensive from kyiv is expected, for which the United States and NATO allies have accelerated the shipment of military supplies to Ukraine.

The biggest leak of US military documents in a decade, carried out by recruit Jack Teixeira, exposed possible vulnerabilities in the Ukrainian army, but both US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Kirby himself expressed confidence on Thursday of the Biden Administration on the strength of those forces.

“They have the vast majority, and by vast I mean about 98%, of what they have asked for to develop offensive operations this spring.

They have armored equipment, artillery, air defense, ammunition, including a recent shipment, not to mention the training we have completed for numerous brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces outside the country," the spokesman said.

“It's not just material.

It's also the training on how to use that material in the field... We've done everything we can, and we're not going to stop there, you'll continue to see continued support from the United States.”

In fact, the Joe Biden Administration announced on Wednesday a new military aid package for Ukraine, valued at nearly 300 million dollars (272 million euros) and which includes ammunition for anti-aircraft defense equipment,

"Regarding the execution on the ground of any type of counteroffensive, it is something that only corresponds to President Zelensky," said the spokesman for the National Security Council.

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