Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a surprise visit to Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, extending a multi-stop European tour that has elicited fresh pledges of military support.
France dispatched a plane to pick up Mr Zelenskyy in Germany, where he met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier on Sunday and discussed his country's planned counteroffensive to liberate areas occupied by Russia.
Mr Macron's office said the French president and Mr Zelenskyy would discuss Ukraine's military and humanitarian needs and "the more long-term perspectives for a return to peace in Europe".
It also said Mr Macron would "reaffirm France and Europe's unwavering support" for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.
In a tweet on his arrival, Mr Zelenskyy said: "With each visit, Ukraine's defence and offensive capabilities are expanding. The ties with Europe are getting stronger, and the pressure on Russia is growing."
He said he and Mr Macron would "talk through the most important points of bilateral relations".
France has supplied Ukraine with an array of weaponry, include air-defence systems, light tanks, howitzers and other arms and equipment and fuel.
Ukraine won't attack Russian territory
Speaking during a news conference with Mr Scholz in Berlin, Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's goal was to free the territories within its internationally recognised borders.
There has been speculation that Ukraine might try to capture areas in Russia proper and use them as bargaining chips in possible peace negotiations to end the war launched by Moscow in February 2022.
Pressed by reporters on the issue, Mr Zelenskyy said: "We don't attack Russian territory, we liberate our own legitimate territory.
"We have neither the time nor the strength [to attack Russia]," he said, according to an official interpreter.
"And we also don't have weapons to spare, with which we could do this.
"We are preparing a counterattack for the illegally occupied areas based on our constitutionally defined legitimate borders, which are recognised internationally."
The Ukrainian president is visiting allies in search of further arms to help his country fend off the Russian invasion, and funds to rebuild what's been destroyed by more than a year of devastating conflict.
A Luftwaffe jet flew Mr Zelenskyy to the German capital from Rome, where he had met Saturday with Pope Francis and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.
It is his first visit to Berlin since the start of the war and comes a day after the German government announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($4.46 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.
Mr Zelenskyy thanked Mr Scholz for Germany's political, financial and military support, saying the country is now second only behind the United States in providing aid to Ukraine — and joked that he is working to make it the biggest donor.
Mr Scholz made clear that Kyiv can expect German aid to keep flowing.
"We will support you for as long as necessary," he said, adding that it is up to Russia to end the war by withdrawing its troops.
Germany steps up arms support
After initially hesitating to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, Germany has become one of the biggest suppliers of arms to Ukraine, including Leopard 1 and 2 battle tanks, and the sophisticated IRIS-T SLM air-defence system.
Modern Western hardware is considered crucial if Ukraine is to succeed in its planned counteroffensive against Russian troops.
Mr Zelenskyy first met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's head of state, who was snubbed by Kyiv last year, apparently over his previous close ties to Russia, causing a chill in diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Germany.
Since then, both Mr Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz have visited Ukraine, assuring Mr Zelenskyy of their support for his country's fight against the Russian invasion.
Announcing the new arms package, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin would help Ukraine for "as long as it takes."
After meeting Mr Scholz and other senior officials at the chancellery, the two leaders are expected to fly to the western city of Aachen for Mr Zelenskyy to receive the International Charlemagne Prize awarded to him and the people of Ukraine.
Organisers say the award recognises that their resistance against Russia's invasion is a defence "not just of the sovereignty of their country and the life of its citizens, but also of Europe and European values".
While German leaders have expressed strong backing for Ukraine, German voters are divided on whether the country should provide further weapons, particularly advanced fighter jets of the kind Kyiv is asking its allies for.
Russian commanders killed near Bakhmut
Meanwhile, Russia's Defence Ministry said two of its military commanders were killed in eastern Ukraine, as Kyiv's forces renewed efforts to break through Russian defences in the embattled city of Bakhmut.
In a daily briefing, the ministry said Commander Vyacheslav Makarov of the 4th Motorised Rifle Brigade and Deputy Commander Yevgeny Brovko from a separate unit were killed trying to repel Ukrainian attacks.
It said Commander Makarov had been leading troops from the front line, and that Deputy Commander Brovko "died heroically, suffering multiple shrapnel wounds".
The defence ministry rarely announces the deaths of military command in its daily briefings.
It also said Ukrainian forces waged attacks in the north and south of Bakhmut over the past 24 hours, but that they had not broken through Russian defences.
"All attacks by units of Ukraine's armed forces have been repelled," it said.
Reuters was not able to independently verify Russia's account.
Neither Ukraine or Russian forces have been able to take full control of the city, despite months of grinding warfare that has inflicted heavy losses on both sides.
Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back north of Bakhmut amid a surge of Ukrainian attacks, but Kyiv has played down suggestions a huge, long-planned counteroffensive has officially begun.
ABC/wires
