Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the president of neighboring Poland on his way home from the United States.

His talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda took place on Thursday in the southeastern Polish city of Rzeszow.

Poland is one of the European countries that have actively supported Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. Video footage showed Zelenskyy and Duda embracing each other warmly.

The two reportedly spoke about Zelenskyy's visit to the US and also "summed up the year 2022, which brought extremely difficult historical challenges due to the full-scale war that Russia launched against Ukraine."

They also discussed "strategic plans for the future, the agenda of bilateral relations and cooperation at the international level in the coming year."

Meanwhile, fierce fighting continues between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

Speaking in a briefing for foreign military attaches on Thursday, Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov said, "The situation along the 815-kilometer line of engagement has stabilized." He added that the Russian military has focused its main efforts on completing the liberation of Donetsk. Moscow claims to have annexed the region.

Gerasimov also said the Russian forces had hit more than 1,300 critical targets using precision-guided missiles.

He added that the attacks significantly reduced "the potential of the Ukrainian army" and disrupted "its command system, paralyzing the military-industrial complex and hindering the delivery of military supplies."