Ukraine seeks to end conflict with Russia this year: defense minister's advisor

KIEV, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Yuriy Sak, an advisor to the Ukrainian Defense Minister, said Friday that Kiev and its partners aim to put an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict this year, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

"Our common task is to ensure that this war ends on the territory of Ukraine this year," Sak was cited as saying at the Ukraine-France forum.

He urged Ukrainian partners to believe that Ukraine "is able and is positioned to defeat the enemy this year."

At the start of the conflict, there were about 200,000 servicemen in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, now Ukraine has an almost 1-million-strong army, Sak added.