Russian President Vladimir Putin is betting on the “collapse” of Western support for Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi told G7 leaders on Wednesday, noting that the Russian army has “significantly increased pressure” on the front, AFP and Agerpres reported.

“Russia hopes for only one thing: that the unity of the free world will collapse next year. Russia believes that America and Europe will show weakness and will not maintain support for Ukraine at the appropriate level,” said President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi during a teleconference with the leaders of the G7 countries.

Admitting that Russian troops are on the offensive at the front, Zelenskyi assured that the Ukrainian military is “resisting the attacks.”

“We are holding important bridgeheads in several directions of the front line and are preparing for the next stages,” he said.

After the failure of the great summer counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army, which failed to break through the Russian defenses, it was the Moscow forces that took control, in particular Avdiivka, an eastern industrial city near Donetsk.

Western military and financial aid to Ukraine, which is crucial to Kyiv’s war effort, is increasingly in doubt and a subject of political controversy in both the United States and Europe.

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