Ukraine's army chief said Monday the situation on the front line of the war against Russian forces had not reached a stalemate.

In comments published last month, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi described the war with Russia as moving towards a new stage of static and attritional fighting and, drawing comparisons with World War one, said a level of technology had been reached that "puts us into a stalemate."

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later denied there was a stalemate in the war.

Asked on Monday whether he considered the battlefield situation now a stalemate, Zaluzhnyi replied "No," Ukraine's RBC media reported.

He declined to comment on whether Ukraine plans counteroffensive operations over winter.

"This is a war, I can't say what I plan, what we should do. Otherwise, it will be a show, not a war," he was quoted as saying.

A Ukrainian counteroffensive this year has made little progress against deeply entrenched Russian positions.

A senior military commander told Reuters separately that frontline troops were facing shortages of artillery shells and had scaled back some military operations because of a shortfall of foreign assistance.