Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has returned to Ukraine from a European tour with more pledges for military backing from allies in Rome, Berlin, Paris, and London.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
Zelenskiy said on May 15 in a video recorded on the train as he traveled back to Kyiv that he was returning with new defense packages, including "more ammunition, stronger weapons for the front, more protection for our people, more political support."
His press service said on his last stop in London, Zelenskiy and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak discussed a fighter jet coalition, which Zelenskiy said was very important because Ukraine currently cannot control the sky in its defense against invading Russian forces.
Ukraine has previously raised the idea of a fighter jet coalition and pressed the United States to join.
Zelenskiy said after his visits with European leader he felt "extremely positive" about the chances of forming the coalition and said there would be "important decisions" in the near future.
In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said Britain and Poland had agreed to join the coalition, which would train Ukrainian pilots on modern Western aircraft.
"Britain -- yes. Poland -- yes. And I am sure France and other partners will join," he said in the video.
French President Emmanuel Macron said later in an interview that France is open to training Ukrainian fighter jet pilots in France and that those training programs could start right away.
Macron told France's TF1 television that he had not discussed sending warplanes to Ukraine with Zelenskiy. Other Western countries, including the United States, have resisted Ukraine's requests for fighter jets over concerns about escalating the war.
The Ukrainian president visited London on May 15, Berlin and Paris on May 14, and Rome on May 13. Berlin pledged a new 2.7 billion-euro ($3 billion) defense package – the biggest since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 -- a day before his arrival.
Sunak pledged "hundreds" of air-defense missiles and long-range attack drones, building on Britain's announcement last week that it would be the first country to start supplying Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles.
"This is a crucial moment in Ukraine's resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke," Sunak said in a statement. "We must not let them down."
The Kremlin said it took an "extremely negative" view of Britain's decision to supply long-range missiles and other military equipment to Ukraine, but that it will not change the outcome of the war.
Zelenskiy said in all his talks with European leaders he discussed his peace formula of a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine, which has been defending itself against the full-scale Russian invasion with massive Western help. A major Ukrainian counteroffensive has been expected for some time.
Dispatches From The Front: Ukraine's Forces Make Battlefield Gains In Bakhmut
A top Ukrainian commander said earlier on May 15 that his ground forces had shown that they can succeed under difficult conditions in their effort to beat back Russian forces in the eastern city of Bakhmut.
"The defense of Bakhmut continues and recent days have shown that Ukraine can move forward and counter the Russian forces there, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskiy told Ukraine's Media Military Center Telegram channel on May 15.
"The advance of our troops along the Bakhmut direction -- that is the first successful offensive operation in the city's defense," Syrskiy said.
Syrskiy added that the ground forces he commands are fighting with fewer resources than Russia's military forces and fighters from the private Wagner paramilitary group who have spearheaded the Kremlin's efforts to take the city in Ukraine's Donetsk region in recent months.
"The last few days have shown that we can move forward and destroy the enemy even in such extremely difficult conditions," he added. "The operation to defend Bakhmut continues. All necessary decisions for the defense have been made."
The Ukrainian military described Bakhmut and Maryinka as being at the "epicenter of hostilities." Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on May 15 that four people were killed when a Russian missile attack struck a hospital in Avdiyivka.
Zelenskiy later spoke by video address to the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, appealing to NATO to make a "positive political decision" on Kyiv's membership bid at a July summit.
Zelenskiy's European tour opened a week of intense diplomatic activity on the Ukraine crisis, including a Council of Europe summit and a G7 gathering in Japan, and resulted in promises of increased assistance from France and Germany.
WATCH: Despite making gains in the eastern city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian troops say they continue to face intense artillery strikes from Russian forces who fire up to 500 shells a day. Current Time's Andriy Kuzakov reported from near Bakhmut on May 6 on the fighting and efforts to treat the wounded.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Ukrainian Forces Endure Russian Shelling Amid Gains In Bakhmut
Amid speculation over whether Ukraine has already begun its long-expected counteroffensive, much attention has been paid to reported rifts between Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian military and defense officials.
On May 14, The Washington Post cited leaked U.S. intelligence documents in reporting that Prigozhin's Wagner mercenary force, which has borne the brunt of the bloody fighting in Bakhmut for months, offered in January to reveal the positions of Russian troops to the Ukrainian government in exchange for withdrawing Wagner forces from the city.
Kyiv rejected the offer, according to the U.S. daily, which said that Prigozhin's offer came through his contacts with Ukrainian intelligence. Washington has not commented on the report, which was based on secret U.S. documents leaked on the group-chat platform Discord.
Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, previously publicly threatened to withdraw his forces from Bakhmut and surrounding regions unless they received additional ammunition.
In a rare admission of casualties among its military command, the Russian Defense Ministry said on May 14 that two of its military commanders were killed trying to repel Ukrainian attacks in eastern Ukraine.
It also said Ukrainian forces had waged attacks in the north and south of Bakhmut over the previous 24 hours, but had not broken through.
Neither Ukrainian nor Russian forces have succeeded in taking full control of the city after months of fighting that has caused heavy casualties on both sides.
Kyiv has dismissed suggestions by Prigozhin and others that its counteroffensive has officially begun.