Moscow: Russia on Saturday claimed that its forces have taken control of two settlements in Ukraine’s Donetsk region over the past 24 hours, Anadolu News Agency reported.
The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement that Russia has captured Seredne and Kleban Byk villages following operations carried out by the Southern and Western groups of forces.
The ministry also said Russian forces attacked a Ukrainian military-industrial complex along with temporary deployment points of their troops and foreign fighters across 143 locations.
It claimed that Russian air defence successfully countered air attacks by Ukraine and shot down four guided aerial bombs and 160 drones over the past week, Anadolu News Agency reported, citing the statement from the Defence Ministry.
The development comes amid US attempts to hold peace talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the war. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that he is ready to talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a post on X, he said, “I spoke with the 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 added.
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump renewed a threat on Friday to impose sanctions on Russia if there is no progress towards a peaceful settlement in Ukraine in two weeks, showing frustration at Moscow a week after his warm meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that there was “no meeting planned” between the two leaders. “There is no meeting planned,” Lavrov said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker”.
Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to meet after the US President met with European leaders- European Union President Ursula von der Leyen, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finland President Alexander Stubb, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.
Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social, “At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself.”
Lavrov told the US broadcaster that Putin was “ready to meet Zelenskyy when the agenda would be ready for a summit,” adding that it was “not ready at all”.
“There are several principles which Washington believes must be accepted, including no NATO membership, including the discussion of territorial issues, and Zelenskyy said no to everything,” according to Lavrov.
ALSO READ: Putin-Zelenskyy Meeting Is Like Mixing Oil And Vinegar, Still Hopes For Peace Deal, Says Trump
