7 days ago
Ukraine makes small gains ‘holding back the enemy' as Trump prepares for talks with Putin
Ukraine retook two villages in Sumy from Russia.
US president Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks.
European leaders are concerned that Putin and Trump will force unacceptable compromises.
Ukraine has retaken two villages in its eastern region of Sumy, Kyiv's military said, adding to recent small territorial gains along the border with Russia ahead of peace talks at a summit of the US and Russian leaders set for Friday.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Kyiv and Moscow will both have to cede land to end the war in Ukraine and this week's talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin will show whether the Kremlin leader is willing to make a deal.
Ukraine's forces have liberated the settlements of Stepne and Novokostiantynivka along the frontline in Sumy, the General Staff said in a Tuesday evening report.
'It's tough. But we are holding back the enemy,' Ukraine's top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, wrote on Facebook, following a meeting on Tuesday with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine's top brass.
'In the Sumy direction, we are conducting active operations and have some success advancing forward, liberating Ukrainian land.'
Monday's gains follow Sunday's news that Kyiv's military had retaken the village of Bezsalivka.
AFP
Russian air defence forces shot down 25 Ukrainian drones overnight over the Rostov region and Stavropol Krai, Russia's TASS state news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Russian defence ministry.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports of gains in the Sumy region.
The small gains come as Russian forces have been pushing westward for months along sections of the 1 000km frontline, capturing new villages nearly on a daily basis, mainly in the Donetsk region.
Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, mounted a new offensive this year in Sumy, following Putin's order to carve out a 'buffer zone' there and threatening the regional capital.
Ukraine's authoritative Deep State online map project shows that Russian forces control about 200km 2 of Sumy, and a total of about 114 000km 2 in Ukraine.
AFP reported that Trump on Monday described his upcoming summit with Vladimir Putin as a 'feel-out meeting' to gauge his ideas for ending the war in Ukraine, as European leaders rushed to ensure respect for Kyiv's interests.
Fearing privately that Putin will team up with Trump to force unacceptable compromises, European leaders plan to speak separately Wednesday with both Zelensky and Trump.
The US president has spent the first months of his second term in office trying to broker peace in Ukraine - after boasting he could end the conflict in 24 hours - but multiple rounds of talks, phone calls and diplomatic visits have failed to yield a breakthrough.
Trump, usually fond of boasting of his deal-making skills, played down possibilities of a breakthrough in Alaska but said he expected 'constructive conversations' with Putin.
'This is really a feel-out meeting a little bit,' Trump told reporters at the White House.
'We're going to see what he has in mind and if it's a fair deal, I'll reveal it to the European Union leaders and to NATO leaders and also to President Zelensky,' Trump said.
I may say - lots of luck, keep fighting. Or I may say, we can make a deal.
Donald Trump
Zelensky has ruled out ceding territory seized by force.
Trump - who publicly berated Zelensky at a White House meeting in February - said he was a 'little bothered' by Zelensky's stance and insisted land swaps would need to take place.
'There'll be some swapping, there'll be some changes in land,' said Trump.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has invited the French, British and other European leaders and the EU and NATO chiefs to virtual talks on Wednesday.
