Ukraine war: Kremlin 'wants to end' conflict, Kyiv counteroffensive and Russia referendum calls
1. Kremlin 'wants to end the war as soon as possible', claims Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to exchange 200 prisoners.
Speaking to PSB, Erdogan described the deal as a "significant" step forward but did not provide any further details about the agreement.
Erdogan, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin last week in Uzbekistan, has said the Kremlin "wants to end the war as soon as possible".
The Turkish president has managed to maintain ties with Moscow and Kyiv since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.
Ankara has regularly offered to mediate in the conflict "to find a deal that satisfies everyone" and returns Crimea and occupied territories to Ukraine.
Erdogan is also due to address the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
Ukraine has claimed that its troops have marched farther east into territory that was recently abandoned by Russia.
"The occupiers are clearly in a panic," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly televised address on Monday.
"The speed at which our troops are moving. The speed in restoring normal life," he added.
The progress of the counteroffensive means Ukraine could soon launch an assault on Russian forces in the occupied Donbas region.
Ukraine's armed forces had regained complete control of the village of Bilohorivka and were preparing to retake all of Luhansk province from Russian occupiers, according to provincial Governor Serhiy Gaidai said.
Kyiv has begun to push into Luhansk after driving Russian forces out of the northeastern Kharkiv province in a counter-offensive earlier this month.
Ukraine’s southern military command has also reported that its troops sank a Russian barge carrying troops and
Read more on euronews.com
