Ukraine asks the west for huge rise in heavy artillery supply

Zelenskiy adviser says far more hardware is needed to reach heavy weapons parity' with Russia and drive out its forces

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Ukraine has called on the west to supply 300 rocket launchers, 500 tanks and 1,000 howitzers before a key meeting on Wednesday amid concern in some quarters it is pushing its demands for Nato-standard weapons to the limit.

The maximalist request was made publicly by Mykhailo Podolyak, a key presidential adviser, on Twitter on Monday where he argued that Ukraine needed heavy weapons parity" to defeat Russia and end the war.