Russia captures four rural settlements in Ukraine
On May 27, 2025, Russian forces seized control of four villages in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, as per a local official's report. The advance transpired a few days following Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement for troops to establish a border buffer zone.
Oleh Hryhorov, the head of the Sumy regional military administration, stated that the Russian forces are attempting to push further into the region after capturing the villages. Hryhorov added that Ukrainian forces are working to hold their positions, and earlier evacuation of affected villagers poses no immediate threat to civilians.
The Sumy region borders Russia's Kursk region, a vulnerable area susceptible to Ukrainian incursions. Putin maintains that creating such a buffer zone may help prevent future cross-border attacks.
Resembling a 2024 incident, a surprise Ukrainian incursion in Kursk previously led to occupying a piece of Russian territory, marking the first occurrence since World War II.
Last week, Putin visited the Kursk region, having been the first since Moscow asserted in March that it had expelled Ukrainian forces from territories captured in August 2024. These claims were disputed by Kyiv officials. In 2024, Putin expressed his wish for a Russian offensive aimed at creating a buffer zone in Ukraine's Kharkiv region to protect Russia's Belgorod border region from constant Ukrainian attacks.
Meanwhile, Moscow has planned to dispatch a draft peace memorandum to Kyiv, outlining key principles for a potential settlement. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced this on Tuesday, affirming that the memorandum will encompass principles of settlement, potential timeline for a peace agreement, and a possible ceasefire. Eagerly awaiting the memorandum, Russia anticipates a response draft from Ukraine.
This development unfolded following a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump last week, during which they agreed that Russia would present a draft memorandum. However, US special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, disclosed that Putin has yet to deliver the promised document. Despite months of US-led efforts to secure a ceasefire and stimulate peace talks, Moscow's invasion persists.
Negotiations have made minimal progress since the Russian and Ukrainian delegations held direct discussions in Turkey on May 16, their first encounter in three years. A significant prisoner exchange remains the only tangible outcome of the talks.
Kellogg reported that the Kremlin rejected the Vatican as a venue for negotiations. "We would have preferred to conduct it at the Vatican, and we were indeed prepared to do so, but the Russians chose not to go there... So, Geneva might be the next venue," Kellogg informed the Fox News Channel. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also expressed readiness to host another round of peace talks.
Ongoing military actions have been inconsistently fluctuating. A Russian bombing campaign, escalating lately, has abated overnight, with fewer drones targeting Ukrainian towns and cities. The drone launch count surged from Friday to Sunday to approximately 900 in Ukraine. On Sunday night, Russia carried out its biggest drone attack of the three-year conflict, firing 355 drones. Subsequent to this, Russia mobilized 60 drones at Ukraine from Monday to Tuesday, as reported by the Ukrainian air force. Russia's Defense Ministry asserted that its defenses downed 99 Ukrainian drones over seven Russian regions overnight.
Expressing rising frustration with Putin, US President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday that Putin is "playing with fire" by declining to participate in ceasefire talks and as Russian forces continued to make progress.
Reports suggest that Russia's draft peace memorandum for Ukraine is likely to touch upon topics such as NATO's eastward expansion, protection of Russian speakers and culture, and discussions on territorial control. Nevertheless, the precise details of the key principles haven't been officially disclosed.
The government of Russia is planning to dispatch a draft peace memorandum to Ukraine, outlining potential key principles for a settlement in the ongoing war-and-conflicts, including discussions on territorial control, protection of Russian speakers, and NATO's eastward expansion. Despite the US-led efforts for peace negotiations and a ceasefire, political tensions between the governments of Russia and Ukraine have escalated, with Vladimir Putin resisting these talks, a move that President Donald Trump has criticized as playing with fire.
