(Central News Agency) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that the Ukrainian army will do everything possible to hold on to the "fortress" city of Bakhmut (Bakhmut), and urged Western countries to provide long-range weapons to drive Russian troops away from Donbas. )area.

"No one will give up on Bakhmut. We will do our best to hold on to it, we see Bakhmut as a fortress," Zelensky told a news conference with top European Union (EU) leaders after the Kyiv summit, Reuters reported.

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"If the supply of weapons, especially long-range weapons, increases, we will not only not leave Bakhmut, we will begin to drive Russian troops out of Donbass, an area that has been occupied since 2014," he said.

Russian officials said the Russian army was surrounding Bakhmut from multiple directions and trying to control an important road, which is an important supply route for the Ukrainian army.

Zelensky said that the Russian army will continue to advance in the Udon region, but the Ukrainian army will be able to fight until the arrival of Western weapons.

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