Ukraine expects to resume peace negotiations in August. This says the chief Ukrainian negotiator David Arachhamia in a conversation with the American radio station The Voice of America† Until then, Arakhmeya said, Kyiv wants to strengthen its position. His office reported that President Volodymyr Zelensky had recently visited the Southern Front.
Kyiv said in a statement that Zelensky visited the southern city of Mykolaiv. It is not clear when the visit took place. The president is said to have visited the destroyed government buildings and spoken to soldiers in the area. He also presented military awards and praised his troops for their bravery.
Zelensky rarely leaves the capital, Kyiv, as far as is known. At the end of May, he visited Kharkiv, the second city of the country, which is located on the Eastern Front.
Mykolaiv is located about 100 kilometers north of Kherson, a city already in the hands of the Russians. Fighting has already begun on the southern and eastern borders of Mykolaiv, he writes Reuters. The Russians have been driven there before.
Russia strengthens its offensive in the east
British intelligence and the Ukrainian regional governor reported that Russia is said to have reinforced its offensive in the east.
According to the British, the Russians made a renewed attempt to reach the city of Izum in the past two days. From there, they wish to withdraw to the slightly more eastern city of Severodonetsk, to take full control of this site.
According to the Ukrainian governor of that region, the Kremlin also deployed additional reserve soldiers to take control of the city. Russia already controls almost the entire city and would control all the cities in Luhansk Oblast if it were fully controlled.
