Russia announced on Friday that its forces in eastern Ukraine have taken control of two villages in the Donetsk region, intensifying pressure on the battlefield as world leaders continue efforts to broker a diplomatic solution to end the war.
According to Moscow, Russian forces are making slow but steady progress in the area, moving closer to Ukraine’s key defensive lines.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated on Telegram that troops had seized control of Sredenje and Kleban-Bik.
The capture of Kleban-Bik would mark a further advance toward Kostiantinivka, a heavily fortified city along the road to Kramatorsk, which hosts a major Ukrainian logistics base.
A day earlier, Russia said its troops had captured three additional villages in Donetsk, a region it claimed to annex in September 2022.
These latest advances come as hopes for a summit between Russian and Ukrainian presidents are fading. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for such a meeting as part of his broader effort to end the conflict.
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that “no meeting is planned,” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of deliberately prolonging its offensive.
Also on Friday, Trump told reporters he would make a “significant decision” within two weeks on his peace initiative, suggesting Moscow could face massive new sanctions—or, as he put it, he might “do nothing at all.”
