Ukraine has reformed its army and has sufficient resources to counter an offensive in the east of the country, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"If there is a large-scale offensive, today we already have sufficient forces to stop the aggressor: we have built an army over the year …So we will defend Ukraine against aggression in the event of a violation and active offensive operations," Poroshenko said on the Channel 5 television on Sunday evening.

Holding a march on the Independence Day was a report on progress in these efforts, he said.

"Together with volunteers, with combatants, with the Ukrainian heroes and patriots, with soldiers, officers and generals, the defense minister, the chief of the General Staff, we were able to build a new army. And the whole country had a chance to see it during the Independence March which I was under much pressure not to hold. No! This is a report, if you like, of what has been done in the Ukrainian army over the year … Today we, the Ukrainian army that did not exist a year ago, are capable of stopping the aggressor," said the head of state.

Russia's defense budget "has always been 30 to 60 times the Ukrainian one," he said.

"I will protect the life of every Ukrainian soldier, because this is my duty to their parents, to our people, to our country," Poroshenko said.