Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the front-line 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 745 miles of the front line. Russian troops are grinding down Ukrainian defenses, but Kyiv is also counterattacking.

Zelenskyy said that taking into account both the occupation and the liberation of the territories, Kyiv was "slightly in the positive," liberating nearly 8 square miles. 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," Zelenskyy said, in remarks released by his office on Friday.

"At this point, we do not see a large-scale threat."

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 193 square miles 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, Zelenskyy 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.

Russia has repeatedly said that its troops were extending their gains in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, the capture of which 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. Zelenskyy 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, Zelenskyy 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," Zelenskyy said. "This is an alternative format to a trilateral meeting at the level of technical teams."