Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country needs more time before launching a counteroffensive against Russia as it awaits promised military aid.

Zelenskyy spoke to European public broadcasters, including the BBC, on Wednesday.

He said Ukraine's combat brigades are ready, but the army still needs "some things," including armored vehicles that are "arriving in batches."

The president said that with what Ukraine already has, the country can go forward, but it would lose a lot of people and that is unacceptable.

He stressed that Ukraine needs to wait, and it still needs "a bit more time," without mentioning when the much-anticipated counteroffensive would be launched.

Zelenskyy again denied a claim by Russia's presidential office on May 3 that the Kremlin was targeted by a drone attack.

The Ukrainian leader said he believes the attack could have been a false flag operation, carried out by Russia itself.

He added that liberating Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia is far more important than using weapons to attack the Kremlin.

Zelenskyy also said Western sanctions are having an impact on Russia's defense industry, and Russian forces have reduced shelling per day in some areas.