Russia announced on Saturday that its forces had taken control of two villages in Ukraine's Donetsk region within the past 24 hours, ANI reported citing Anadolu News Agency. In a statement, the Russian Defence Ministry said that the villages of Seredne and Kleban Byk came under Russian control after operations carried out by its Southern and Western military groups.
The ministry also reported that Russian forces targeted a Ukrainian military-industrial facility and several temporary bases of Ukrainian troops and foreign fighters in 143 locations. Besides, Russian air defence systems reportedly shot down four guided bombs and 160 drones over the past week.
These developments come amid renewed peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, with the United States acting as a mediator in efforts to end the ongoing war.
Zelenskyy willing to meet Putin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently spoke with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, expressing his willingness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I spoke with President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, at his request. I informed about the joint diplomatic efforts with our partners and the productive meetings with President Trump in Washington.""I reaffirmed my readiness for any format of meeting with the head of Russia. However, we see that Moscow is once again trying to drag everything out even further. It is important that the Global South sends relevant signals and pushes Russia toward peace," he posted on X.
Trump threatens sanctions if peace deal not materialised
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump issued a warning on Friday, threatening to impose sanctions on Russia if no progress is made toward peace within two weeks. This comes just a week after a meeting between Putin and Trump in Alaska.
Lavrov dismisses idea of meeting
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the idea of a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. He claimed that Zelenskyy "says no to everything" and that there is currently no agenda for such a meeting, ANI reported citing Al Jazeera.
