Washington: Insisting that Kiev still has "substantial" reserves despite losing a "significant" number of troops, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan argued that it is too early to assess the success of Ukraine's counteroffensive.

At the Aspen Security Forum in Washington, DC on Friday, when a question regarding whether "the real counteroffensive is yet to come" was posed, Sullivan insisted that the counteroffensive started on "the day the first Ukrainian put their life on the line."

"This counteroffensive is well underway as there have already been a significant number of casualties and deaths among Ukrainian fighters. And the going is tough. The White House adviser told the forum's moderator Edward Luce, "And we said it would be hard going.

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Sullivan claims that Ukraine is currently attempting to pick the ideal time "when it will have the maximum impact on the battlefield" because it has "substantial combat power" that it has not yet committed to the battle.

"We will really see what the likely results of that counteroffensive will be at that moment when they make that commitment," Sullivan said, adding that Washington is in "close consultation with the Ukrainians on the conditions for that."

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Speaking on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the West is obviously disappointed that its much-lauded counteroffensive has failed to yield any results and has resulted in a high rate of Ukrainian casualties despite "colossal amounts of resources" being sent to Kiev.

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Earlier this week, senior Pentagon officials insisted that it was still too early to declare the counteroffensive a "failure," arguing that Washington had anticipated the operation would be bloody and drawn out from the beginning.

The New York Times reported last week that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky had halted the operation to stockpile ammunition after losing up to 20% of the weaponry used in the counteroffensive in just two weeks.