In a video address to the NATO summit on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country needs "military assistance without limitations" at this point and asked for a "clear answer" from the bloc.

"It feels like we're in a gray area, between the West and Russia, defending our common values," Zelenskyy said. "This is the scariest thing ... not to have clear answers to requests for help."

Thursday marked one month since the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

"NATO has yet to show what the alliance can do to save people," Zelenskyy told the gathering in Brussels.

According to a senior U.S. official quoted by AP, Zelenskyy did not reiterate his request for a no-fly zone or ask to join NATO, which was repeatedly rejected by the alliance. 

However, according to a joint statement, the bloc did agree to beef up their eastern flank. The move will see four more battle groups set up in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.

It also warned Moscow against the use of chemical weapons.

U.S. President Joe Biden told the closed-door session he was in favor of sending more troops to NATO's eastern flank, said a senior U.S. administration official quoted by Reuters, as leaders of NATO countries met for an urgent gathering in Brussels amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Following the summit, Biden hailed the NATO alliance, saying it is as "strong and united as it has ever been" and vowed continued support for Ukraine.

Russia has explicitly told NATO to stop supplying weapons and sending mercenaries to Ukraine.

"So when (U.S. President Joe) Biden and his NATO colleagues call for peace, they must first start with themselves. It is their fault that the settlement of the situation in Ukraine, its demilitarization and denazification are being delayed," Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of Russia's lower house of parliament, wrote on Telegram days ago.

If Western countries want peace, they should channel funds, not for military supplies but humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people, he said.

(Cover: NATO member country leaders pose for a family photo at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2022. /Reuters)