Putin ally: Let's talk to end this stalemate

RUSSIA and Ukraine are locked in a stalemate and the two warring sides need to negotiate a peace deal, the authoritarian leader of Belarus said yesterday.

- Mark Reynolds

Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, added: "There are enough problems on both sides and... no one can do anything and substantively strengthen or advance their position. They're there head-to-head, to the death, entrenched. People are dying." Russian forces have continued to bombard the battered city of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region for the past week despite suffering heavy losses, according to the US.

But the vast frontline in Ukraine has moved little in the past year despite Kyiv's gruelling months-long offensive.