Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Russia’ says its forces have taken control of three villages in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
The Defence Ministry on Friday said Nadiivka, Novosilka and Novoocheretuvate had been taken, however, Reuters could not independently verify the advances.
Even as it embarks on talks with the United States on ending the war, Russia continues to make slow but steady gains in Donetsk, a heavily urban and industrial region, parts of which have been controlled by Russian proxies since 2014.
Russia declared in September 2022 that it had incorporated Donetsk and three other Ukrainian regions as part of its own territory, even though its forces did not fully control them – a move condemned as illegal by most countries at the United Nations.
MAPPED: Nadiivka
The fate of Russian-occupied regions in the eastern part of the country could be a crucial part of any future peace deal.
Meanwhile, Russia and the United States have made no progress on the venue for a meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, Russian news agencies cited the Kremlin as saying on Friday.
Both countries have previously mentioned Saudi Arabia as a possible summit host.
Kremlin spokesperson Peskov said the two sides agreed at talks in Riyadh this week – their first on how to end the Ukraine war before more formal negotiations – that the two leaders should meet, but “there are no specifics yet.” He noted that both men had said they were keen to talk in person.
“There is a desire of the two presidents, which they expressed, and there is also an instruction to prepare this meeting well so that it will be as productive as possible. It is during the preparation that all the nuances will be discussed,” Peskov said.
The Russian agencies also cited Peskov as saying that Putin would soon hold a call with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
