The advance of the Russian army has “stopped” and the situation is “much better” on the front, the Ukrainian president said on Monday Volodymyr Zelensky, contradicting many recent assessments of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine.

“I can give you the last piece of information: the situation is much better compared to the last three months,” he said in an interview with French television network BFMTV and Le Monde newspaper. The Russian advance “was continuing in the eastern part of the country, today our administration, our military, stopped it,” he said.

“As long as Ukraine holds, the French army can remain on French soil,” he stressed. “Your children will not die in Ukraine,” he continued clarifying that sending foreign troops is not currently necessary.

On February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the future deployment of Western troops to Ukraine should not be “blocked” in the name of “strategic ambiguity”, causing intense confrontation in Europe.

Zelensky asked however sending “technical staff” for “the co-production” of French Caesar guns or German Leopard tanks and “training”.

“The fact that (Macron) said nothing can be ruled out, I think it’s connected to Putin because as long as Ukraine is there, as long as Ukraine holds, the French army can stay on French soil,” Zelensky said.

“But if Putin succeeds in attacking another NATO country, then NATO countries will have to decide how, and to what extent, they should send their army or not,” he said.

Emmanuel Macron “only wants this, that Ukraine will not be alone”, “he wanted unity” when it comes to Ukraine and “I see no danger in it,” the Ukrainian head of state also stated.

“More than 1,000 kilometers of defense lines were made or are being made on the front in Ukraine, the Ukrainian president said.

“You must know that when we talk about fortifications, it is a continuous process, we are not talking about kilometers or hundreds of kilometers, but for the construction of more than 1,000 km. It is therefore a very complex task,” he said, according to his translated remarks and cited “three lines of defense” that have been set up against Russian forces in eastern, southern and northern Ukraine.

In his daily video speech this evening, Zelensky this time spoke of “2,000-kilometer projects to strengthen existing fortifications and create new ones.”