The Ukrainian Premier League season was terminated in April, having been unable to resume from its winter break due to the Russian invasion of the country in February.

Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) President Andriy Pavelko revealed that he had held talks with Zelenskyy, with the country's leader agreeing that football can play an important role in boosting morale amid the ongoing conflict.

"I spoke with our President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about how important football is to distract," Pavelko told the Associated Press.

"From the children to the old people, everyone is focused on the war.

"Every day they receive information about deaths, about the impact of the war.

"We spoke about how football has a very big power to help people think about the future because now people, of course, are not in a good mindset.

"They’re in the worst mood.

"We spoke about how it would be possible that football could help us to think about the future."

Pavelko expressed hope that men's and women's football at all levels can restart in Ukraine in August.

"So we took the decision with the president that we would resume the Ukrainian championship in August," he said, as reported by the AP.

"In Ukraine we will play on every level.

"So the Premier League, and the first and second professional divisions, and women’s championship.

"At all levels we will start in August.

"The decision was taken with the President of Ukraine."

Shakhtar Donetsk had led the Ukrainian Premier League at the time it was terminated earlier this year.

The 12-time Ukrainian champions are considered one of the country's leading clubs, together with Dynamo Kyiv.

However, Shakhtar Donetsk have been unable to play home matches at their Donbass Arena since May 2014 due to the war in Donbas.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, which according to the United Nations has led to the death of at least 4,183 civilians, although it is feared that the true figure is far higher.

The UN also reports that more than 6.9 million people have fled Ukraine.

Fighting in Ukraine has been most intense in the east and south of the country after an initial Russian attack on Kyiv and the surrounding area subsided, and Pavelko said further details on where matches can be played will be revealed at a future date.

"We will speak with our military board and the Government to discuss how to organise it safely," the UAF President said, as reported by AP.

As well as Zelenskyy, Pavelko has also met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and his UEFA counterpart Aleksander Čeferin recently to discuss Ukrainian football.

Ukraine's men's national team faces a winner-takes-all match away to Wales to decide the final European qualifying berth for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

It had beat Scotland 3-1 in the playoff semi-final on Wednesday (June 1) on its return to competitive football.