Days ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak had a phone call with National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India Ajit Kumar Doval and informed him about the current situation at the front, in particular about the extremely difficult defence of the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk.

A detailed press note issued by the former said, "We know that Russia is preparing certain offensive actions, and we are preparing to respond."

Yermak said that Ukraine is interested in the broadest possible support for the resolution, in particular from the countries of the Global South and for the same, cooperation with India is very important to Ukraine.

ALSO READ | Russia-Ukraine war anniversary: Kyiv banks on India as losses exceed Afghan war cost

“Cooperation with India is very important to us. We believe that you will support our resolution, as it contains very correct wording on the inviolability of borders and territorial integrity. Our goals are transparent and clear: we do not claim a single centimeter of Russian territory, we just want to get ours back,” the release reads ahead.

In the conversation, Yermak said “We are absolutely convinced that the war can and should be ended this year, so that the anniversary of the beginning of the full-scale invasion will be the first and last in our history and we believe these principles are shared by India and the majority of countries of the world."

Head of the Presidential Office noted, Ukraine welcomes any initiatives that give a chance to end the war and restore the territorial integrity of our country, but these should not be partial temporary solutions such as a ceasefire, but a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory. Otherwise, peace will be unstable, and this is unacceptable for Ukraine.

“We know that Russia is preparing certain offensive actions, and we are preparing to respond. The Russian army is very unmotivated, while Ukrainian warriors are showing extraordinary bravery and resilience. We will not stop until we liberate all our territories. We only need weapons,” Yermak added.