Ukraine-Russia Conflict: Overview of Major Events, Day 1,276 | Latest Updates on the Ukraine-Russia War

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Here is how things stand on Saturday, August 23:

Fighting

• Russian troops have taken control of the settlements of Rusyn Yar, Volodymyrivka and Katerynivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, as per the Russian Ministry of Defence.

• Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia could be suspended for at least five days after a Ukrainian drone strike on a facility in Russia, said Hungarian and Slovak officials. This marked the second time this week that Russian oil supplies have been cut to both countries.

• An energy facility at Unecha in Russia’s Bryansk region, through which the Europe-bound Druzhba oil pipeline runs, caught fire due to Ukrainian missile and drone attacks, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said, adding that the fire had been extinguished.

Peace talks

• US President Donald Trump has renewed a threat to impose sanctions on Russia if there is no progress towards a peaceful settlement in Ukraine within two weeks, showing frustration at Moscow a week after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that there is no agenda for a potential summit between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he accused of saying “no to everything”.

• Lavrov stated that a meeting with Zelenskyy and a deal were possible, provided there was a proper agenda for such a session.

• Zelenskyy has accused Russia of doing everything it can to ensure that a meeting between him and Putin does not take place, and has called on Ukraine’s allies to apply renewed sanctions on Moscow if it continues to show no desire to end its invasion.

Politics and diplomacy

• Putin has stated that there was “light at the end of the tunnel” in Russia-US relations and that the two countries were discussing joint projects in the Arctic and Alaska, signaling Russia’s optimism that it can mend relations with Washington and strike business deals with Trump, despite a lack of progress towards ending its war on Ukraine.

Regional security

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