Zelenskyy rules out withdrawing from Donbas, saying it would open bridgehead for Russia

NZ Herald

4 days ago

The Donbas encompasses the eastern Ukrainian regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, both of which Russia claims as its own and has sought to control since its invasion began in 2022.
Zelenskyy said the summit would effectively postpone new US sanctions on Russia - sanctions that Trump had promised to impose if Putin refused to halt his war.
'First, he will meet on US territory, which I consider his personal victory. Second, he is coming out of isolation because he is meeting on US territory. Third, with this meeting, he has somehow postponed sanctions,' Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy also said he had received a 'signal' from US envoy Steve Witkoff that Russia might agree to a ceasefire, without elaborating.
'This was the first signal from them,' Zelenskyy said.
To prepare for the summit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who told a US radio show earlier that Trump did not regard the meeting as a 'concession' to Russia.
The White House confirmed that the meeting came about after Putin requested it.
Trump's spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the aim was 'for the President is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war'.
'No equipment'
On the battlefield, Zelenskyy warned Russia had made sharp advances near the coal mining town of Dobropillia and was planning new ground assaults on at least three different areas of the front line.
'Russian units have advanced 10km deep in several spots. They all have no equipment, only weapons in their hands.
'Some have already been found, some destroyed, some taken prisoner. We will find the rest and destroy them in the near future,' Zelenskyy said.
A map published by Ukrainian battlefield monitor DeepState, which has close ties with Ukraine's military, showed Russia had made a double-pronged advance around 10km deep in a narrow section of the front line near Dobropillia.
Dobropillia, home to around 30,000 people before the war, has come under regular Russian drone attacks.
The advance also threatens the largely destroyed town of Kostiantynivka, one of the last large urban areas in the Donetsk region still held by Ukraine.
Russian forces have been accelerating their advances for months, pressing their advantage against overstretched Ukrainian troops.
The Ukrainian Army said today it was engaged in 'difficult' battles with Russian forces in the east, but denied Russia had a foothold near Dobropillia.
'The situation is difficult and dynamic,' it said in a statement.
'New offensive'
The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think-tank, said Russia was sending small sabotage groups forwards.
It said it was 'premature' to call the Russian advances around Dobropillia 'an operational-level breakthrough'.
A Ukrainian military group that oversees parts of the front in the Donetsk region also said Russia was probing Ukrainian lines with small sabotage groups, describing battles as 'complex, unpleasant, and dynamic'.
Trump has described his summit with Putin as a chance to check the Russian leader's ideas for ending the war.
European leaders have sought to ensure respect for Kyiv's interests.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, has made costly but incremental gains across the front in recent months and claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions while still fighting to control them.
Ukrainian police said that Russian attacks in the past hours had killed three people and wounded 12 others, including a child.
-Agence France-Presse