Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukrainian forces' cross-border incursion into Russia could help tamp down the intensity of Russian offensives in the east of his country, but that the situation remains difficult.

Zelenskyy spoke to reporters on Monday, when he visited the southern region of Zaporizhzhia along with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.

Zelenskyy repeated his call for Western countries to allow Ukraine to fire long-range weapons supplied by them into Russian territory. He also asked the Western nations to provide Kyiv with more weapons, saying Ukraine hasn't received everything it wants to use.

Zelenskyy admitted that the situation in eastern Ukraine remains difficult, even though his idea is that Ukraine's cross-border operation could help deter Russian advances into places like Pokrovsk, a key strategic city in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said he is sure the latest provocation will fail, referring to Ukraine's cross-border incursion into Russia.

The Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces continued to conduct assaults in the Russian region of Kursk, but added that there were no confirmed Ukrainian advances.