Russia is preparing a new strike on the territory of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in his evening video address, BNR reported.
We know that the Russians are preparing a new strike. Intelligence provided information about this. Now America and Europe, all partners, need to understand how this discredits diplomatic negotiations. Every Russian strike.
All those who really want peace should think about how to make the Russians prepare not for new massive strikes, but for an end to the war, Zelensky also said.
The closed format of the negotiations on the end of the war in Ukraine helps to avoid political pressure on the parties. This position was expressed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, TASS reported, quoted by FOCUS.
“It is easier for the participating parties to seek flexibility on certain issues if they are not regularly discussed in the public sphere, because this puts internal political pressure on them“, Rubio said during a hearing before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, commenting on the progress of the negotiations.
Rubio called the issue of the future status of Donbas one of the most difficult stages of the peace negotiations, the resolution of which the parties have not yet have achieved.
According to Rubio, diplomats are currently trying to find a common language between the positions of Kiev and Moscow, but progress on this issue remains limited.
"I know that there is active work to try to understand whether it is possible to reconcile the views of both sides on this issue. This is still a bridge that we have not crossed“, he told the US Senate.
"There is still disagreement, but at least we have managed to narrow the circle of issues to one central one and this is probably going to be a very difficult issue, but nevertheless the work on it continues“, he added.
Rubio acknowledged the political difficulty that Ukraine faces regarding the idea of " that a change of territory could be considered“.
“In the case of Russia, they have been telling their citizens for two and a half years that they are winning this war by a huge margin. So people are going to wonder why they are giving up territory when they are winning so confidently?“, Rubio said.
He described the pace of events as volatile and fast.
Rubio also explained that he is in constant contact with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner “probably 10 times a day“.
Russian troops have concentrated their military efforts in the eastern part of Donbas.
Russia has been trying for years to capture the cities of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, which have become fortress cities. If these cities fall, it would lead to a complete collapse of the eastern front, Sky News analyst Michael Clarke believes.
They play a key role in defending the remaining 20% of the eastern part of Donetsk region that remains under Ukrainian control.
"If Slavyansk and Kramatorsk fall, then the others will follow. Slavyansk is historically and politically very important because the Ukrainians took it back in 2014," he emphasizes.
Because of this, Slavyansk has symbolic significance for Russians. At the same time, Kramatorsk is a “center, hub, larger city“, Clark notes.
According to him, both cities are located on “quite a high ground“, which makes them well-fortified and difficult to capture.
The commander of the unmanned systems of the 28th Motorized Rifle Brigade, Sergei Yary, said yesterday that the Russians are trying to surround Konstantinovka, Donetsk region. According to him, in this direction the enemy is using tactics of small groups of infantry to infiltrate the area.
France is working on new anti-Russian sanctions at the European level. This was announced by French President Emmanuel Macron on the social platform X, FOCUS writes.
"France intends to increase pressure on Russia as it deviates from peace. We are working on new sanctions at the European level“, Macron wrote.
According to the French leader, his country also intends to continue to counter the so-called ''shadow fleet'' of Russia.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin, commenting on one of Macron's proposals to strengthen restrictive measures against Russia, stated that sanctions harm those who impose them more.