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Zelensky: Russia has gathered over 50,000 troops for an offensive in northeastern Ukraine
2025-05-28 15:01:32 / BOTA
Russia has massed more than 50,000 troops - including some of its best-trained forces - near Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
However, Zelensky stressed that Kiev has taken measures to prevent the Russian army from carrying out a major offensive with these troops.
The troop buildup comes at a time when Russia appears to be preparing for a summer offensive in Ukraine, despite Kiev expecting it to present a memorandum with its conditions to continue ceasefire talks.
Sumy lies along the Russian Kursk region, where Ukraine had previously occupied and held part of Russian territory for several months, before withdrawing almost entirely last month, although Kiev says it still holds some small areas there.
"Their largest, strongest forces are now on the Kursk front," Zelensky told reporters.
"Their goal is to remove our troops from the Kursk region and prepare for an offensive against the Sumy region," he added.
Putin has said he wants to create a "security zone" along Russia's border with Ukraine.
Zelensky said he believes Russia intends to seize about 10 kilometers of territory deep inside Ukraine.
Russia has captured at least four border villages in the region recently and has been slowly advancing in recent weeks on parts of the front line in eastern Ukraine near the town of Kostiantynivka.
However, the Ukrainian president said the Russians have been pushed back from that area by about 4 kilometers over the past two days.
Zelensky told a news conference that his government is ready for further peace talks in any format. He said the next round is expected to take place at a technical level, but he himself is ready for a trilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He added that he does not want the United States to walk away from the peace process for Ukraine, as it has threatened to do if progress is not made.
Ukraine and Russia exchanged 1,000 prisoners each after a meeting of delegations from the two countries in Istanbul nearly two weeks ago, which did not produce a ceasefire, which was demanded by Ukraine, the US and Europe.
Zelensky said he sees Turkey, the Vatican and Switzerland as the most likely places for further negotiations with Russia.
He stressed that Russia has suggested that the talks be held in Belarus - a proposal that Kiev considers disingenuous and impossible, as Russian troops used the country as a springboard for the invasion of Ukraine in 2022./ REL
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