Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has called on Japan to provide Ukraine with "vitally" needed electronic warfare equipment to neutralize Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), confirming that Ukraine was preparing for an upcoming offensive against Russian forces.

"You are a very, very modern country with electronic warfare. We need it vitally," Reznikov told the Japanese Kyodo news agency, urging Tokyo to provide this electronic warfare equipment to Kiev.

The Ukrainian Minister said Kiev understood Tokyo's refusal to send lethal weapons to the country.

He also confirmed that Ukraine was preparing for an upcoming offensive against Russian forces, without specifying its direction, schedule, and place.

"We are really preparing ... the big plan to de-occupy or liberate all temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk, and other territories," Reznikov was quoted by the Japanese news agency as saying.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal revealed in early April that Kiev had scheduled its upcoming offensive for the summer, while US media reported that it was expected to start on April 30.

Last week, the Foreign Policy newspaper reported, citing Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandra Ustinova, that Kiev indeed had hoped to launch its offensive in April, but later postponed it indefinitely due to a shortage of weapons.

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