Russia seems to prepare an important offensive in Ukraine because it evolves troops towards key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported on May 13, citing non -disclosed Ukrainian intelligence officials.
These reported preparations indicate that Moscow’s efforts to increase the war despite the expected talks of the ceasefire this week and the calls of kyiv and its partners for an unconditional 30-day truce.
Russia has rejected the cease-fire proposals, unless it is accompanied by a stopping of military aid for Ukraine and continues to attack on the ground along the front and long-term strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure.
Some 163 clashes were recorded at the front during the last day, the Ukrainian army reported on the morning of May 14. The Deepstate surveillance group said Russian forces had recently advanced in Totretsk and near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast.
kyiv warned a large offensive of Russian spring aimed at grasping as many territory as possible to strengthen his position in potential negotiations. Commander -in -chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said last month that this campaign had “already started” with the intensification of Russian assaults.
President Volodymyr Zelensky goes to Türkiye this week and invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a ceasefire in what would be their first meeting since 2019.
US President Donald Trump, who is committed to negotiating a peace agreement between Moscow and kyiv, expressed his optimism on potential talks and sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.
The Kremlin has not confirmed if Putin would attend the talks itself, but the Washington Post reported that Moscow would be represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, and Putin’s foreign policy assistant Yuri Ushakov.
Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of Zelensky, said on May 13 that if Putin did not come to Turkey, it will be “the last signal” that Russia “does not want to end the war and is not ready for any negotiations”.
As a Ukraine, Russia Peace Talks Boom, all eyes are on Putin’s next movement
With only two days before the peace talks proposed in Russian start to Istanbul, the Kremlin still refuses to confirm whether President Vladimir Putin will attend the event or not. President Volodymyr Zelensky has already said that he would meet Putin there, a decision that puts the ball in the Kremlin courtyard. By increasing the pressure, US President Donald Trump said on May 12 that he thought that the “two leaders” will be there, pushing Putin in a delicate diplomatic dilemma
