Asking for More and Accelerated Arms Shipments, President Zelensky: The Situation is Very Difficult

President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Source: President.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - Ukraine needs new weapons and faster deliveries to deal with the persistent and very difficult attacks by Russian troops on the eastern Donetsk region, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday.

"The situation is very difficult. Bakhmut, Vuhledar and other sectors of the Donetsk region. There are constant Russian attacks. There are constant attempts to penetrate our defenses," President Zelensky said in a late-night video address.

"Russia wants the war to drag on and exhaust our troops. So we have to make time for our weapons. We have to speed up deliveries, speed up supplies and open up new weapons options for Ukraine," he explained.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said earlier on Sunday its troops repelled an attack near Blahodatne in the eastern Donetsk region. Meanwhile, the private military group Wagner Russia says it has taken control of the village.

Later military statements made no mention of Blahodatne.

President Zelensky issued his latest call to increase arms deliveries, days after Germany and the United States topped the list of countries agreeing to supply modern tanks.

Earlier, President Zelensky on Saturday said Ukraine needed a US-made ATACMS missile with a range of about 300 km, which Washington has so far rejected.

A presidential adviser said talks were under way to supply long-range missiles. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian air force spoke about negotiations to provide the aircraft.

In his final remarks, President Zelensky committed to ensure that "our pressure is greater than the invaders' capacity to attack" and that means "maintaining the defensive support of our partners".

"The enemy did not take into account its personnel and despite heavy losses, they maintained the intensity of their attacks," he stressed.

"Confronting this requires extraordinary resilience and full awareness from our soldiers, that in defending the Donetsk region they are defending all of Ukraine," he concluded.