Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is preparing to welcome the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin to Kyiv on Sunday as a delegation from Washington makes a visit to the embattled country.

The announcement came as Russia continued to bombard Ukrainian cities on Saturday.

Amid the onslaught, Mr Zelensky said he planned to discuss with Messrs Blinken and Austin the weapons Ukraine needs and how quickly they can be supplied, in comments to the press in a Kyiv metro station.

Mr Zelensky added that he hoped that US President Joe Biden would also come to Kyiv “as soon as the security situation permits.”

His comments came after a day of attacks by Russian troops who continued to target the Azovstal steelworks in the fiercely contested port city of Mariupol.

Russia appears to be concentrating its attacks on the east and south of Ukraine, with Russia’s top brass apparently determined to create a land bridge between Russia proper and the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

Moscow’s forces attacked the southern port city of Odessa, saying they had hit a logistics terminal at a military airfield where Russia said a “large consignment” of weapons from the US and European countries was being stored.

Russian forces had also destroyed weapons, ammunition and fuel depots, among other targets, and killed up to 200 Ukrainian fighters, Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said, according to Interfax news agency.

Moscow also continued to target the besieged city of Mariupol and Mr Zelensky repeated his threat to withdraw from peace talks with Russia should the Ukrainian troops holding out in Mariupol be massacred by Russian forces.

Mariupol has been completely surrounded by Russian troops since the early days of the Russian invasion.

“If our people are annihilated in Mariupol, if a pseudo-referendum on independence takes place in Kherson, then Ukraine will step out of all negotiation processes,” Zelensky said during the press conference.

While the U.S. visit remains unconfirmed by Washington, Mr Zelensky said he hoped that the U.S. would support weapons deliveries from Germany so that Berlin starts “supplying what they have and what they are not using right now.”

Visitors are currently very welcome, but not just to take “selfies” Zelensky said, adding that “You cannot come to us empty-handed today. We don’t expect just gifts or any cupcakes. We expect concrete things and concrete weapons.”

Zelensky has repeatedly called for heavy weapons, a point of contention with Germany, while many other countries have promised supplies.

There are about 44,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, according to Zelensky, while the Russian army and pro-Russian separatists are said to have a force of between 60,000 and 80,000 men in the same area.

Analysts believe the Russian military command aims to surround the Ukrainian units in the Donbass.

(dpa/NAN)