Zelenskyy invites Putin to meeting in "occupied" Kostiantynivka

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin meet him in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, which Russia has claimed to have occupied, while Ukraine denies this.

Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter)

Quote: "Now, on the eve of America's Independence Day, Putin has chosen to lie to the world and to the president of the United States about the situation on the front. He claims that Russian forces have supposedly captured Kostiantynivka in Donbas.

Of course, that is not true. It is just another Russian lie, an attempt to generate some kind of a news story. If Kostiantynivka were under Russian control, then perhaps Putin would have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic way to finally end this war. But the fact is, he won't cross the front line – reality is very different from Putin's words."

Background:

• Vladimir Putin claimed earlier that Russian forces had "captured Kostiantynivka" in Donetsk Oblast.
• The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine later denied reports that Russian forces had supposedly occupied the town of Kostiantynivka.
• According to DeepState, a Ukrainian group of military analysts, Russian forces have reached the outskirts of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast from multiple directions and continue to infiltrate the city.

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