Russia likely to launch fresh offensive in a bid to boost its negotiating position
- 30 March, 10:58
Russia is expected to a launch a fresh offensive on Ukraine in the next weeks in order to strengthen its position in ceasefire negotiations, sources within the Ukrainian government and military analysts have said.
Ukrainian officials said such an attack would put pressure on Ukraine and allow the Kremlin to delay discussions about ceasefire in the frontline. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said with reference to intelligence reports that Russia was preparing for a fresh offensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and northeastern Sumy regions.
“They’re dragging out the talks and trying to get the US stuck in endless and pointless discussions about fake ‘conditions’ just to buy time and then try to grab more land,” Zelenskiy said on Thursday in a visit to Paris. Two G7 diplomatic officials in Kyiv agreed with that assessment.
US-brokered efforts in recent weeks to achieve a 30-day truce along the frontline and the possibility of partial truce in the Black Sea have been unsuccessful due to Russia’s far-fetched demands. Four people were killed in Russian air strikes on Ukraine’s eastern Dnipro region on Friday, while the overnight attack on a military hospital on Saturday killed two civilians in Kharkiv region.
