Putin masses 50,000 troops on Ukraine's north front as Trump again agrees to meet Russian, Ukrainian leaders

Russian President Vladimir Putin has amassed some 50,000 troops on Ukraine’s northern border despite a united push by the U.S. and Ukraine to get Moscow to enter into "meaningful" ceasefire negotiations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday warned that Putin is preparing a massive summer offensive in a move to push Ukraine’s troops out of Russia’s Kursk region, and to launch a new invasion into Ukraine’s Sumy region — a mere 200 miles from the capital city of Kyiv. 

Zelenskyy reiterated this week that he is ready to hold direct negotiations with Putin and suggested that if the Kremlin chief is uncomfortable with a bilateral meeting, a trilateral meeting could be held with President Donald Trump.

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Trump on Wednesday said he would meet with both world leaders "if necessary" but the Kremlin again rejected the suggestion. 

The U.S. president said he was "very disappointed" at Russia's continued bombardment of Ukraine during negotiation attempts, but he has refused to hit Putin with more sanctions, telling reporters, "I think I'm close to getting a deal, I don't want to screw it up by doing that."

Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesman for Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Thursday during a live chat on X that since the May 16 meeting in Turkey, Russia had launched 120 missiles, more than 1,500 Shahed drones and more than 2,500 guided bombs on Ukrainian cities. 

The Sumy regional governor confirmed on Monday that Russian forces had officially taken over four Ukrainian villages near the Ukraine-Russia border which were previously evacuated, and which sat in a "gray zone" that has long been militarily contested following Russia’s February 2022 invasion. 

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The movement of Russian troops comes as Putin looks to create a roughly 6-mile wide "buffer zone," which Moscow reportedly has been attempting to carry out since 2024, but which was thwarted by Ukraine’s Kursk invasion. 

Implementing a buffer zone on Ukraine’s northern territory will likely be used as a bargaining chip if Moscow engages in ceasefire negotiations, which Kyiv has said Russia has failed to do in good faith after delegations from both sides met in Istanbul earlier this month, but failed to advance peace talks. 

Russia late on Wednesday suggested a second Istanbul meeting, where it said it would present its "memorandum" of ceasefire terms.

Ukraine has thus far not accepted another meeting with Russia and on Thursday said Moscow "promised" to supply its memorandum ahead of any future talks. 

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"They are scared to share it because they filled the document with ultimatums and demands," Tykhyi said Thursday. "They understand this document is needed not to advance the peace process but to stall."

Tykhyi argued that "[i]f they have nothing to hide, if this document is workable" then there "should be no problem in sharing the document," which he said is needed to ensure the negotiating parties can achieve a "meaningful result."

Ukraine has already submitted their ceasefire terms.