Ukraine vows to defend Donbas as Russia presses ahead

Ukraine vows to defend Donbas while Russia expands its front lines, as a Putin Trump meeting looms.

Zelensky rules out Donbas concession as Russia presses ahead

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine will not cede the Donbas region as Russian forces push forward in several spots. He told reporters Kyiv would soon destroy the units involved in the attack and warned Moscow aims to shape international perception before a high level meeting in Alaska between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Zelensky warned that withdrawing from the Donbas would open a bridgehead for a broader Russian offensive and stressed that Ukraine must defend the fortifications it holds.

He also signaled new Russian offensives on three sections of the front, Zaporizhzhia, Pokrovsk and Novopavlivka, while noting Moscow already controls just under 20 percent of Ukrainian territory. The Donbas, made up of Luhansk and Donetsk, has been partly occupied by Russia since 2014. Kyiv said it would reject any proposal to leave the Donbas, arguing that retreat would weaken Ukraine’s defenses and invite further incursions.

Zelensky’s stance ties Kyiv’s security to holding ground in the Donbas, signaling a hard line that could complicate diplomacy ahead of the Alaska talks. The timing matters because Moscow may use the meeting to test Western resolve and public opinion at home and abroad. The risk is a drift toward symbolic moves on the diplomatic stage if frontline gains continue. The broader question is whether Western security assurances and continued military aid will keep pace with Russian pressure on the ground.

The conflict’s endurance raises difficult questions for all sides: will Kyiv secure real guarantees or face a protracted standoff at regional borders? The next moves depend as much on diplomacy as on battlefield realities, and any misstep could reshape the conflict’s trajectory and the region’s stability.

Highlights

The coming days will test whether diplomacy can translate military realities into durable commitments.