Russian forces drove deeper into eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, pressing toward the coal-mining town of Dobropillia in one of their most significant advances this year, just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin meets U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska.
The offensive has sharpened fears in Kyiv and across Europe that the summit could pave the way for a peace deal forcing Ukraine to surrender occupied land.
Ukraine’s military said reserve units were deployed to blunt the advance in Donetsk, describing “difficult combat” against Russian troops. The push forms part of Putin’s campaign to seize the entire region, two and a half years after launching a full-scale invasion.
Trump has hinted that any peace arrangement might involve “swapping territories to the betterment of both” countries – a notion viewed in Kyiv as one-sided, since all contested land lies within Ukraine’s borders. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, backed by European Union leaders, insists no deal can bypass Ukraine’s participation and must uphold its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Putin-Trump meeting, set for Friday at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, will be their first in-person talks since 2021. The White House has downplayed hopes for a breakthrough, casting it as a “listening exercise.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump wanted to “size up” Putin in person before weighing next steps.
