By Olena Harmash
KYIV, April 3 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the frontline situation for Ukraine was the best since the middle of last year, adding that Kyiv's troops had foiled a Russian offensive in March.
With the war in its fifth year, the fighting is raging along more than 1,200 km (745 miles) of the frontline. Russian troops are grinding down Ukrainian defences, but Kyiv is also counterattacking.
Zelenskiy said that taking into account both the occupation and the liberation of the territories, Kyiv was "slightly in the positive", liberating about 20 sq km. He did not specify a time frame for the gains.
"The offensive they were planning for March was thwarted by the actions of our armed forces. That is why the Russians will now simply step up their assault operations," Zelenskiy said, in remarks released by his office on Friday.
"At this point, we do not see a large-scale threat."
RUSSIAN TROOPS GATHER NEAR POKROVSK
Russia controls just under 20% of Ukraine's territory - much of that seized before the 2022 full-scale invasion. The DeepState open source intelligence map suggests Russia has advanced by only around 500 sq km in total since the start of January, slowing the pace from last year.
"Overall, the front line is holding ... The situation is complex, but the best it has been in the last 10 months," he said, citing data from Ukrainian and British intelligence.
The Russian troops were amassing near the logistics hub of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region and also near Hulaipole in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, Zelenskiy said.
The Ukrainian General Staff reported 230 combat clashes over the past 24 hours, saying that most of the attacks were near Pokrovsk and Zaporizhzhia. It said fighting typically accelerates as the weather warms, and efforts to find a diplomatic solution have so far brought no results.
ZELENSKIY INVITES U.S. NEGOTIATORS TO KYIV
Russia has repeatedly said that its troops were extending their gains in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, whose capture Moscow has made one of the objectives of its invasion.
Moscow is demanding that Kyiv withdraw its troops from the parts of the Donetsk region it still controls. Zelenskiy rejects that and aims to negotiate a lasting peace deal and strong security guarantees for Ukraine.
With the war in the Middle East increasing uncertainty over future weapons supplies to Ukraine, and peace talks brokered by the U.S. effectively suspended, Zelenskiy said he invited U.S. negotiators to visit Kyiv and then potentially travel to Moscow.
"The delegation will do everything possible, under the current circumstances – during the war with Iran – to come to Kyiv," Zelenskiy said. "This is an alternative format to a trilateral meeting at the level of technical teams."
(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Alison Williams)
