Ukraine needs ‘more time’ before its counter-offensive, says Zelenskiy

Losses would be ‘unacceptable’ without more heavy weapons promised by west, says president

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that Ukraine needs “more time” before it can launch its much-anticipated counter-offensive against Russia, adding that some armoured vehicles promised by the west had yet to arrive.

The president said that newly formed brigades were ready to attack: “We can go forward and be successful. But we’d lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time.”