Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out giving up any of his country's territory in a potential peace deal with Russia.
In a
BBC interview to mark a year since Russia's full-scale invasion, he warned conceding land would mean Russia could "keep coming back", while Western weapons would bring peace closer.
Mr Zelensky also said a predicted spring offensive had already begun.
"Russian attacks are already happening from several directions," he said.
He does, however, believe Ukraine's forces can keep resisting Russia's advance until they are able to launch a counter-offensive - although he repeated his calls for more military aid from the West.
"Of course, modern weapons speed up peace. Weapons are the only language Russia understands," Mr Zelensky told the BBC.
He met UK and EU leaders last week in a bid to bolster international support and to ask for modern arms to defend his country. When Ukraine's president asked for modern fighter jets, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said "nothing is off the table".
But Kyiv has become increasingly frustrated with the speed with which Western weapons have arrived.
Deliveries of battle tanks - promised last month by a swathe of Western countries, including Germany, the US and the UK - are still thought to be weeks away from arriving on the battlefield.
President Zelensky also addressed a threat by Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko to wage war alongside Russian troops from his territory if a single Ukrainian soldier crossed the border.
"I hope [Belarus] won't join [the war]," he said. "If it does, we will fight and we will survive." Allowing Russia to use Belarus as a staging post for an attack again would be a "huge mistake", he added.
