Russian President Vladimir Putin considered, today, Friday, that it was necessary to reach an agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine, on the condition that all parties accept the facts on the ground, while Russian forces intensified their bombing on the southern and eastern fronts, trying to make progress, amid Western condemnation of the military cooperation between Russia and Iran.

At the conclusion of the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Putin asked: "How can an agreement be reached? Can we come to terms with anyone? And with what guarantees?"

"At the end of the day, it will be necessary to reach an agreement. I have said this many times before; we are ready for these arrangements. We are open, but it forces us to think about who we are dealing with."

The Russian President also said that all parties that will participate in the settlement in Ukraine must accept the facts on the ground, considering that the settlement process will not be easy and will take time.

On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, in a video speech late Thursday, that his forces would eventually be able to expel Russia from all the lands it controlled, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Zelensky accused the Russian forces of leaving landmines, booby traps and explosives in buildings, cars and infrastructure in places they left because of Ukrainian military pressure.

Southern and Eastern fronts

On the field level, battles continued between the Russian and Ukrainian armies on various southern and eastern fronts, amid Ukrainian warnings that more than 170,000 square kilometers have become dangerous land planted with mines.

The pro-Russian Donetsk authorities said that the Ukrainian forces continue to target the province, and that 7 areas have been hit in the past hours by more than 150 shells and missiles.

As a result, one person was killed and homes and infrastructure were damaged.

On the southern front, Al-Jazeera correspondent in Kherson reported, quoting the Ukrainian army, that in the past hours, Russian forces launched more than 30 attacks on the city, and on villages and towns on the front line.

The army said that its forces exchanged artillery shelling with the Russian forces along the Dnipro River in the province, and added that the Russian shelling continued throughout last night on the provinces of Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia and Dnipro in the south of the country, and on Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk in the east.

The Ukrainian General Staff also confirmed that its forces continued to inflict losses on the Russians in Zaporizhia County, and that they attacked Russian positions and points of mobilization of soldiers in at least 6 towns in southern Ukraine, which resulted in the injury of 240 Russian soldiers and the destruction of 3 stores of weapons and various military equipment.

The governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kirilenko, said in a televised interview that the fiercest fighting took place near the towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, adding that 5 civilians were killed and two wounded in parts controlled by Ukraine.

He stressed that the Russian forces are also trying to advance towards Liman, which was recaptured by Ukrainian forces last month.

"The Russians have intensified their efforts in Donetsk and Luhansk ... they are now in a very active phase of trying to carry out offensive operations. We are not making progress, but instead we are defending against enemy infantry and destroying their equipment wherever they try to advance," Oleksiy Aristovich, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, said in a video post.

The Ukrainian company, "Energo Atom", accused the Russian army of detaining two employees of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine and beating them "severely".

The company added that the Russian military, who have controlled the station since the beginning of March, "are angry and turn into real policemen and jailers (...) and intensify the repression" of the employees.

Iran and Russia

On the other hand, White House National Security Council Communications Coordinator John Kirby said today, Friday, that the United States will send a $ 275 million aid package to Ukraine to help strengthen its air defenses against drones.

Kirby told reporters that Washington is very concerned about the "deepening and growing defense partnership" between Iran and Russia, adding that the United States will use its tools to end that relationship, including the relationship in the field of drones.

He added that the US government would call on partner countries to discuss and confront the Russian-Iranian partnership, explaining that his country would impose sanctions on "3 entities centered in Russia" that are particularly active in "possessing and using Iranian drones."

 In turn, British Ambassador to the United Nations Barbara Woodward said today that Russia is trying to obtain more weapons from Iran, including hundreds of ballistic missiles, and is offering Tehran an unprecedented level of military and technical support.