The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said today that he hoped a successful counteroffensive launched by Ukraine against Russian forces could force Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a peace deal.

“A success of this counteroffensive could do two things: strengthen (Ukraine’s) position at the negotiating table, and it could also finally lead Putin to negotiate an end to the war he started,” he told reporters standing by of his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani.

“In that sense, this could bring peace closer, not further away,” he added during a news conference in Washington.

The US top diplomat said he was “convinced” that Ukrainian forces would enjoy success as Kiev announced the recapture of three villages in the eastern Donetsk region on Sunday — the first liberations of territory after what it had called “counter-offensive actions”. Saturday the president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Although it is “still too early” to know how this will play out, he said.

President Zelensky admitted on Saturday that his army was taking “counter-offensive actions” without wanting to elaborate on the matter.

His Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said a day earlier that the months-expected major Ukrainian counteroffensive had “begun” but that Kiev’s forces had “failed to achieve their objectives” after several days of heavy fighting.

According to Blinken, however, any peace would have to be “sustainable, meaning a peace that doesn’t let Russia relax and rest, rearm and attack again six months, a year or two years from now.”

Blinken further stated that the US is determined to maximize its support to Ukraine so that it can succeed on the battlefield. He also said that a “strong” package of policy and practical support for Ukraine could be expected from NATO during the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.