Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday urged world leaders gathered at the G7 summit to do their utmost to end Russia’s invasion of his country by the end of the year, a source told AFP.

In his closed-door address via video-link to the gathering of leaders in the German Alps, Zelensky said battle conditions would make it tougher for his troops as they mount their fightback. 

A war pushing past winter also risked raging further beyond, he said.

He therefore urged the G7 leaders to do their maximum to end the war by year’s end, including by intensifying sanctions against Russia, the source said.

Despite the multiple rounds of punitive measures that Western allies have unleashed on Moscow, Zelensky pleaded with them to “not lower the pressure and to keep sanctioning Russia massively and heavily”.