US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that there was "no sense of fatigue" among NATO allies when it came to helping Ukraine.

"We must and we will continue to support Ukraine," he said after a NATO-Ukraine meeting in Brussels.

Mr Blinken added that NATO allies were unanimous on this position and that he was also hearing continued support for Ukraine in both chambers of the US Congress.

Ukraine has been concerned that the Israel-Hamas war could divert international attention away from its efforts to defeat Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the West to ramp up arms production.

The European Union has delivered about 300,000 of its promised 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine so far, he said.

"We need to create a Euro-Atlantic common area of defence industries," Mr Kuleba said before meeting the NATO foreign ministers, adding this would ensure both Ukraine's security and that of NATO countries themselves.

Kyiv has recently engaged in a concerted drive to entice leading global arms manufacturers to set up operations in Ukraine, part of a bid to diversify its reliance on weapons and ammunition given by its allies.

"It is important that our solidarity with Ukraine is not only demonstrated in words but also in deeds," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, urging allies to do more.

"These are concrete actions, we need more of them and we need sustained and stepped up support."

Russia has amassed a large missile stockpile ahead of winter, Mr Stoltenberg warned.

Russia "is now weaker militarily, politically and economically," he said.

"At the same time we must not underestimate Russia," he added, stressing that the Russians had been making new attempts to strike Ukraine's power grid and energy infrastructure, "trying to leave Ukraine in the dark and cold".

Russia ramping up attacks in Donetsk region

Russian forces were ramping up attacks in eastern Ukraine, according to both Russian and Ukrainian officials, as they vie to secure elusive territorial gains before the end of the year.

Despite the frontlines having barely shifted in 2023, fighting has remained intense, with the nearly encircled industrial town of Avdiivka the latest major flashpoint.

Russia launched a renewed bid to capture the war-battered town last month and analysts suggest Russian forces have made incremental gains, though at an enormous human cost.

"The enemy has doubled its artillery fire and airstrikes. It has also intensified ground infantry attacks, and is using armoured vehicles," said Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesman for Ukraine's army.

Oleksandr Tarnavsky, the Ukrainian commander responsible for the area, also said Russia had "significantly increased" its activity around Avdiivka.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has responded to Ukrainian claims that Russia was responsible for the poisoning of Marianna Budanova, the wife of its military intelligence chief.

Ms Budanova was hospitalised with heavy metals poisoning, in what intelligence figures in Kyiv allege was a brazen assassination attempt.

"Ukraine blames Russia for everything. Even its own existence, it seems to me," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to the allegations.