Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk declares his country is still very far from a collapse, even after Russian-backed separatists have taken over a key city in Ukraine.

But while the Ukrainian leader maintains a strong stand, he is once again highlighting his urgent plea for western allies to send weapons to Ukraine, to prevent Russia from taking over his country.

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Yatsenyuk's statement comes after Ukrainian soldiers on Thursday retreated from the key rail transportation city of Debaltseve, following intense fighting with Russian-backed separatists.

The battle for Debaltseve brings a crushing defeat to Ukraine. At 13 of its troops were killed and 157 were wounded.

Yatsenyuk says Russian President Vladimir Putin clearly wants to invade Ukraine.

"We have to defend ourselves. Russia is constantly supplying tanks, surface-to-air missiles and the rest of the stuff. And again, everyone knows this, we still use outdated Soviet-style equipment," he said.

The tragedy in Debaltseve comes a week after European leaders had supposedly brokered a ceasefire agreement in the 10-month conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

On the surface, the so-called ceasefire should have already prevented the bloody battle in Debaltseve, but the Ukrainian leader says this agreement does not really exist.

He tells a television station, "we don't have a ceasefire... because a ceasefire means that no one shoots. Ceasefire means that Russian-led terrorists do not make any kind of ongoing shellings, that they do not kill Ukrainian soldiers and innocent people."

Yatsenyuk's remarks bring to fore the need to clarify if Russian-backed separatists at the forefront are actually complying with the ceasefire accord reached by the leaders of the 28-member European bloc.

A top European Union official says the EU will send armored cars and satellite imagery to monitor the activities in the eastern part of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, however, thinks a convoy with monitoring capabilities alone will not suffice.

He is proposing that the European Union (EU) commit its troops to a proposed United Nations peacekeeping mission.

But Maciej Popowski, the deputy secretary general for European External Action Service, says "there needs to be more clarity" in Poroshenko's suggestion, before it could be discussed and implemented.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian military officials and separatists representatives exchanged prisoners on Saturday night.

About 140 Ukranian soldiers and 52 rebels were involved in the swap, based on a statement of a separatist official in the field.

TagsUkraine, ukraine conflict