Ukraine needs additional military support from partners, without which it cannot launch a counteroffensive and liberate the temporarily occupied territories, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

"We can't start yet. Without tanks, artillery and Himars, we can't send our brave soldiers to the front," Zelenskyy said in an interview with Japanese publication The Yomiuri Shimbun on Saturday morning.

He called the military situation in eastern Ukraine "not very good" and cited a lack of ammunition as the reason. The head of the Ukrainian state said the Russian troops daily spend about three times more ammunition than the Ukrainian army. "We are waiting for the receipt of ammunition from our partner countries," the president said.

"If there is political will, ways can be found to help us. We are at war and cannot wait," Zelensky added, calling for an early increase in aid.