US President Donald Trump has been reportedly ready to cut short talks with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska due to Putin's intransigence over his demand to annex the entire Donetsk Oblast. Source: Axios,

(Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine withdraw from the eastern Donetsk region as a condition for ending Russia's war but told U.S. President Donald Trump he could freeze the rest of the frontline if his core demands were met,

A new twist in Ukraine war diplomacy. According to a Reuters report Donald Trump relayed a proposal from Vladimir Putin…Ukraine gives up Donetsk in exchange for freezing front lines. President Zelensky has rejected it.

Small groups of Russian troops have pierced parts of Ukraine’s defenses in its eastern Donetsk region, according to local officials, as Russia appears to be making an 11th-hour dash to snatch as much territory as possible ahead of the planned meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump on Friday.

Soldiers from the Airborne Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine successfully carried out assault operations that led to the complete liberation of the villages of Zolotyi Kolodiaz and Petrivka in the Donetsk region from Russian occupation.

In the Russian-occupied cities of Donetsk and Mariupol, an escalating water crisis has pushed daily life to the brink of survival, forcing officials from the local level all the way up to President Vladimir Putin to seek solutions.

"Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this month.

The General Staff said Russian forces suffered significant losses in the area, including 910 killed, 335 wounded, and 37 captured.