Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Tuesday confirmed the organization of a Ukraine-EU summit in Kyiv on Friday, which he said should send a “strong signal” to Moscow almost a year after the start of the Russian invasion, AFP reported.

For its part, the Russian army, which has been on the offensive in recent days, announced on Tuesday that it had captured a village near Bakhmut, a hot spot of hostilities in eastern Ukraine.

The summit is an important moment a few months after Kyiv received the status of an official candidate for the European Union.

“The fact that this summit is being held in Kyiv is a strong signal for both our partners and our enemies,” Shmyhal said during the government meeting, adding that “let’s expect a positive interim assessment of our integration efforts from the summit.”

Two days with strong diplomatic implications should allow “Europe to believe in the victory of Ukraine”, he insisted.

The West will supply Ukraine with 120 to 140 tanks

The summit took place days after the West approved – after a long delay – the delivery of heavy tanks to the Ukrainian army, the first in almost a year of war.

According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine expects “120 to 140” Western tanks to repel the Russian army, which has recently stepped up its offensive.

For the first time, Kyiv has made public the total number of modern heavy weapons promised by its Western allies.

Ukraine has previously stated that it will need several hundred of these heavy tanks, long-range missiles and fighter jets to carry out counter-offensives capable of recapturing Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.

The delivery process can take months due to the need to organize on-site tank maintenance and training of the Ukrainian military.

Paris, for its part, announced on Tuesday that France would deliver twelve more Caesar howitzers to Ukraine in addition to the 18 already delivered.

But this highly accurate and mobile artillery has a range of no more than a hundred kilometers, while Ukraine says it needs longer-range weapons to destroy Russian supply lines and ammunition depots.

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he would discuss his arms needs with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

“We will talk,” he told a group of White House reporters a day after saying he would not send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

• Fighters for Ukraine, uncertainty. Between the momentum of the Baltic states, caution and the sharp “No” of the USA

Many observers believe that Moscow and Kyiv are planning an assault in late winter or spring.

“Western, Ukrainian and Russian sources continue to indicate that Russia is preparing for an imminent offensive, ISW’s assessment confirms, with an offensive in the coming months as the most likely outcome,” the US-based Institute for the Study of War wrote on Tuesday.