Ukraine rules out ceasefire, insists only ‘diplomacy’ can end war, as fighting in Donbass intensifies

Ukraine has ruled out agreeing to a ceasefire with Russia, saying it will not agree to any deal with Moscow that involves giving up territory.

came as Russia stepped up its offensive in the eastern Donbas region and fears grew for Ukrainian fighters who became prisoners at the end of the brutal three-month siege of Mariupol.

After ending weeks of resistance by the last Ukrainian fighters in the strategic southeastern city of Mariupol, Russia is now waging what appears to be a major new offensive in Luhansk, one of two Donbas provinces.

Russian-backed separatists already controlled swathes of territory in Lugansk and neighboring Donetsk province before the February 24 invasion, but Moscow wants to seize the last territory held by Ukraine in Donbas.

Zelenskyy promises that Russian victories are “very temporary”: live updates from Ukraine

The Russians have already secured the land bridge from Crimea to Donbas, which will be difficult for Ukraine to recover.

“The situation in Donbas is extremely difficult,” said the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy he said in his evening address.

“The Russian army was trying to attack the cities of Sloviansk and Sievierodonetsk, but the Ukrainian forces were stopping their advance,” he added.

Eyewitness: This is what hell looks like

Earlier, Zelenskyy told local television that while the fighting would be bloody, the end of the war would only come through “diplomacy” and the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory would be temporary.

His adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, ruled out agreeing to a ceasefire, saying that making concessions would be counterproductive for Ukraine because Russia would only respond with more force after a break in fighting.

He added that kyiv would not accept any deal with Moscow involving the cession of territory.

Meanwhile, concern is growing for Ukrainian fighters taken prisoner after Russia claimed full control of the Azovstal steel plant, which for weeks was the last holdout in Mariupol and became a symbol of Ukrainian defiance.

The strategic port city is now in ruins and more than 20,000 residents are feared dead.

Other key developments:
• US President Joe Biden signs nearly $40bn (£32bn) more in aid for Ukraine
• The Kremlin updates its “block list” of US officials and famous figures barred from entering Russia, now including actor Morgan Freeman

The Russian Defense Ministry released a video of Ukrainian soldiers being detained after announcing that its forces had withdrawn the last fighters from the steel plant’s sprawling underground tunnels.

Moscow-backed separatist leaders have promised the soldiers will face the courts.

‘Justice must be restored’

Denis Pushilin, the pro-Kremlin chief of an area of ​​eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, claimed 2,439 people were in custody.

As fears grow over their treatment, relatives of the steel mill fighters, who hailed from a variety of military and police units, have pleaded for them to be granted prisoner-of-war rights and eventually return to Ukraine. .

Russian officials and state media have tried to characterize the fighters as neo-Nazis and criminals.

The Russian state news agency Tass quoted Pushilin as saying: “I believe that justice must be restored.”