Russia claims more Ukraine land, says forces took control of two settlements in Donetsk

Russia said on Saturday its forces had taken two villages in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, increasing the military pressure as world leaders struggle to broker an end to the conflict.

The Russian Defence Ministry said the villages of Seredne and Kleban Byk came under Russian control following operations conducted by the Southern and Western groups of forces, Anadolu News Agency reported.

The ministry also claimed that Russian forces struck a Ukrainian military-industrial complex and temporary deployment points of Ukrainian armed formations and foreign fighters across 143 locations.

Additionally, Russian air defence successfully countered Ukrainian air attacks 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.

This comes amid the peace talks between both nations, brokered by the US, to put an end to the war.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and told him that he is ready to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a post on X, he said, “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 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 Sergey Lavrov said there is no agenda for a potential summit between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he accused of saying “no to everything”, as per Al Jazeera.