Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Sunday that Russia was likely to intensify its "hostile activity" this week, as Kyiv awaits a historic decision from the European Union on its membership application, AFP reported.
Nearly three months after Russia launched a bloody invasion of his country, Zelenskyy said there had been "few such fateful decisions for Ukraine" as the one it expects from the EU this week, adding in his evening address that "only a positive decision is in the interests of the whole of Europe."
"Obviously, we expect Russia to intensify hostile activity this week ... We are preparing. We are ready," he said, according to AFP.
Ukraine said it had also repulsed fresh attacks by Russian forces on the eastern front, rocked by weeks of fierce battles as Moscow tries to seize the industrial Donbas region.
Earlier, Zelenskyy vowed his troops would not give up the south of the country, after he visited the frontline there.
His defiance came as NATO's chief Jens Stoltenberg warned that the war could grind on "for years" and urged Western countries to be ready to offer long-term military, political and economic aid.
Ukraine has repeatedly urged Western countries to step up their deliveries of arms since the February 24 invasion, despite warnings from nuclear-armed Russia that it could trigger wider conflict.
Last week, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister said her country has received just 10 percent of the weapons it requested from the West to help fight off the Russian offensive.
"From what we said we need, we got about 10 percent," Anna Malyar said in televised remarks quoted by AFP, saying the West should speed up its delivery schedule.
Ukrainian deputy head of Military Intelligence Vadym Skibitsky warned several days earlier that Ukraine is close to running out of ammunition as the country’s forces continue to fight against Russian troops.