Turkey says concerned Ukraine war will intensify in spring

ANKARA - Turkey is concerned about the potential intensification of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the spring, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.

In a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Ankara, Cavusoglu said Turkey would continue with its efforts to bring an end to the war with negotiations.

Ukraine said on Friday that Russia was concentrating all its efforts on capturing the eastern city of Bakhmut where it described the situation as "difficult" but said it was holding out despite Russia's numerical superiority.

Eastern Military Command spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi told Reuters that Ukraine controlled the situation in Bakhmut, understood Russian intentions and that Moscow had tactical success in some places, but was paying a high price for it.

"The situation is difficult, the enemy is concentrating maximum efforts to capture Bakhmut. However it is suffering serious losses and not reaching strategic success," Cherevatyi said.

"All decisions are taken with the aim of not allowing the enemy to break through our defence, to inflict maximum damage to it and preserve personnel," he said.

Russia's assault on Bakhmut, a small city in the Donetsk region, has been the focus of the biggest battle of Moscow's full-scale invasion launched in February 2022.

"Having tactical success in some places, the enemy pays an exorbitant price for it and loses combat potential every day," Cherevatyi said.