The statement was made on Wednesday by Sergey Nikiforov, who wrote on his Facebook page that the Ukrainian leader “has instructed that all international events involving him scheduled for the coming days be postponed and new dates coordinated”. He thanked Kiev’s backers for their understanding.

Zelensky was due to travel to Spain on Friday and meet with King Felipe. Later, he was expected to visit Portugal, where he was set to sign a bilateral security cooperation agreement with Lisbon.

While Nikiforov did not state the reason for the postponement of Zelensky’s travel, the move comes as the Russian Defense Ministry reported an advance in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region. On Wednesday, it claimed Moscow’s troops had captured the villages of Glubokoye and Lukyantsy, which are close to the Ukraine-Russia border.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov admitted that Kiev was facing an “extremely difficult” situation as its troops were struggling to hold ground and were outgunned by the Russian forces. Against this backdrop, he urged Ukraine’s backers to ramp up ammunition deliveries.

Ukrainian officials have long warned that they were not ready to repel a major Russian attack, complaining about delays with Western arms shipments. In April, the head of Kiev’s military intelligence, Kirill Budanov, warned that Ukraine would face serious difficulties in mid-May and early June.

Kharkov Region has frequently been used by Ukrainian forces to stage artillery and drone attacks on Russian border areas, many of which targeted residential buildings, resulting in dozens of civilian casualties. In March, Russian President Putin suggested that Moscow could “at some point” be forced to “create a certain cordon sanitaire” in Kiev-controlled territories to prevent further attacks.

The president made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua News Agency ahead of a state visit to China.

Putin said that Russia is open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but the negotiations should take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict.

“We want a comprehensive, sustainable and fair settlement of this conflict by peaceful means. And we are open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but it should be a negotiation that takes into account the interests of all countries involved in this conflict, including our interests,” the president added.

Any peace settlement must also involve a substantive discussion on global stability and reliable security guarantees for Russia’s opponents and for Russia itself, he continued.

Russia has never refused to negotiate on Ukraine, Putin stressed.

“However, instead of signing a peace agreement, the Ukrainian side unexpectedly announced the termination of negotiations. As Ukrainian officials later said, this was because their Western allies urged them to continue fighting and work together to strategically defeat Russia. We have never refused to negotiate.”

Ukraine and its Western allies are not ready to engage in open and honest dialogue with Russia to end the conflict, Putin highlighted.

“Unfortunately, neither Ukraine nor its Western patrons support these initiatives,” Putin said, adding, “They are not ready to engage in an equal, honest and open dialogue based on mutual respect and consideration of each other’s interests.”

Ukraine and its Western allies are reluctant to discuss the underlying causes, the very origins of the global crisis, the president continued.

The US’s ban on using its arms to attack Russian territory has reportedly deterred Kiev from attacking Moscow’s positions, but Ukraine is allegedly seeking to hit Russian military supply depots across the border, Politico reported.

A group of Ukrainian lawmakers is reportedly meeting with US Congress officials this week in an attempt to influence Washington in removing its restrictions.

The US has been supplying arms to Ukraine on the condition that they must not be used against targets located inside what Washington acknowledges as Russian territory. The restriction is intended to demonstrate the supposedly defensive nature of the arms supplies.

The Ukrainian MPs claim that the policy has facilitated a Russian offensive, which Moscow launched last Friday in Kharkov Region.

Two undisclosed US officials confirmed to Politico that the position of Joe Biden’s office had not changed.

“The assistance is for the defense and not for offensive operations in Russian territory,” one of the officials told Politico.

Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Russia’s northern grouping of forces had taken control over the villages of Gatyshche, Krasnoe, Morokhovets, Oleenykovoe, Borysovka, Ogurtsovo, Pletenevka, Pilna and Strilechya in the Kharkov region.