Russian leader Vladimir Putin reportedly told President Trump his forces could conquer the long-sought-after Donetsk region by October if Ukraine didn’t give up the land as part of a peace deal — but Kyiv and US observers point out that the Kremlin has failed to take it for more than a decade.

The Russian president allegedly told Donald Trump that he wants all of Ukraine’s Donbas region as part of any deal to put an end to the war. More than 10 years into Moscow's relentless assaults in eastern Ukraine,

The Ukrainian army managed to deploy reserves to stop Moscow's soldiers North of Pokrovsk, but it has struggled to find a response to Russia's new infiltration tactics.