President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that the battle for Bakhmut has political significance.

In an interview with the Associated Press published on Wednesday, he predicted that if Russia defeated Ukraine at Bakhmut, Putin would "sell" this victory to the international community.

"If he will feel some blood – smell that we are weak – he will push, push, push," Zelenskyy said, adding that the pressure would come not only from the international community, but also from within his own country. "Our society will feel tired," he said. "Our society will push me to have compromise with them."

Zelenskyy welcomed Western military assistance but said some of the promised weapons had yet to be delivered. "We have great decisions about Patriots, but we don't have them for real," he said, referring to the U.S.-made air defense system.

Ukrainian soldiers have received training in the U.S. since January on how to use the Patriot system, but it hasn't yet been deployed in Ukraine. Ukraine needs 20 Patriot batteries to protect against Russian missiles, and even that may not be enough "as no country in the world was attacked with so many ballistic rockets," Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy said a European nation sent another air defense system to Ukraine, but it didn't work and they "had to change it again and again." He did not name the country.

Western sanctions against Russia don't go far enough, according to Zelenskyy, who called for more far-reaching measures against people in Putin's inner circle.

Zelenskyy said more should be done to target Putin's enablers, who "have to know that they will lose all their money… all their real estate in Europe or in the world, their yachts everywhere."