Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that progress in resolving the more than three-year-old war with Russia depended on Russia taking the first step of agreeing to an unconditional ceasefire.

Russian forces have significantly increased the intensity of their combat activity in eastern Ukraine, Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a three-day ceasefire from May 8-10 to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in World War Two.