WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russians fighting more intensely despite ceasefire talk, Ukrainian commander says

Russian forces have significantly increased the intensity of their combat activity in eastern Ukraine, Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a three-day ceasefire from May 8-10 to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in World War Two. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants an immediate ceasefire lasting at least 30 days.

"Despite loud statements about readiness to cease fire for the May holidays, the occupiers (Russian forces) have significantly increased the intensity of combat actions, focusing their main efforts on the Pokrovsk direction," Syrskyi said on Telegram.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield situation, including the intensity of Russian combat actions.

Russian forces, which began their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, have for months been trying to encircle the eastern town of Pokrovsk, a logistics hub, but Ukrainian resistance has slowed their advances in the area.

Moscow sees taking control of Pokrovsk as an important stepping stone to incorporating the whole of Ukraine's Donetsk region into Russia. Moscow de facto controls most of the region.

Kyiv and its allies reject Russia's territorial claims as illegal and accuse Moscow of prosecuting a war of colonial conquest.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine ready for territorial concessions, US presidential envoy says

The Kiev regime is ready for territorial concessions in order to settle the Ukraine conflict but does not want to recognize it de jure, US presidential special envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg told Fox News.

"Not de jure forever, but de facto, because the Russians actually occupy that and they've agreed to that. They know that if they have a ceasefire in place, which means you sit on the ground that you currently hold, that's what they're willing to go to," the envoy said. "You have your line set, and they're willing to go there," Kellogg stressed.

Reuters/Tass