The situation in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass remains "very difficult" for Ukraine, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Russian troops are still trying to show at least some victory. On the 80th day of the full-scale invasion, it looks especially insane, but they do not stop all these efforts," Zelensky asserted.
Russian troops are concentrating their attacks on eastern Ukraine after failing to advance towards the capital Kiev.
Zelensky was upbeat in his assessment. "Step by step we are forcing the occupiers to leave our land. We will make them leave the Ukrainian sea as well."
The Ukrainian president said he held talks Saturday with a delegation of US senators led by Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitchell McConnell in Kiev.
Zelensky said that he called for the official recognition of Russia as a terrorist state.
