These reported preparations indicate Moscow’s efforts to escalate the war despite expected ceasefire talks this week and calls by Kyiv and its partners for an unconditional 30-day truce.
Russia has rejected ceasefire proposals unless accompanied by a halt on military aid for Ukraine and continues ground assaults along the front and long-range strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure.
Kyiv has been warning about a major Russian spring offensive aimed at seizing as much territory as possible to strengthen its position in potential negotiations. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said last month this campaign had “effectively already begun” with the intensification of Russian aggression.
President Volodymyr Zelensky is traveling to Turkey this week and has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a ceasefire in what would be their first meeting since 2019.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who pledged to broker a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, voiced optimism about the potential talks and dispatched Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg to attend.
The Kremlin has not confirmed whether Putin will attend the talks himself, but the Washington Post reported that Moscow will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, stated that if Putin does not come to Turkey, it will be “the last signal” that Russia “does not want to end the war and is not ready for any negotiations.”
