Ukraine: Ceasefire holds for its first 30 hours in occupied Oleshky

The road to Oleshky in southern Ukraine, a town home to 24,000 people before the war, has been occupied by Russia since the early days of the 2022 full-scale invasion. A localized ceasefire appears to be holding ahead of a humanitarian mission negotiated by the US First Lady Melania Trump, according to the White House, to allow aid into a city where food and medical supplies are running dangerously low. On a normal day, I couldn't stand here without body armor and a helmet today up to 2,000 people are still there on the front line food and medicine are running out there is no electricity no heat and no running water people can't leave the roads out there are mined and lined with burned-out cars and drones fly overhead the ceasefire in Alashki comes amid a thaw in relations between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump and a deal to supply Russian diesel to the United States. Also on Tuesday, the Finnish president and the Norwegian prime minister had a 90-minute phone call with Putin in a bid to avoid Europe being sidelined in diplomatic efforts. The call was made in consultation with Ukraine. The discussion with President Putin was professional and direct. The prime minister and I felt that it was important that border states like Finland and Norway would clarify issues that might lead to misunderstandings. According to Oslo, the conversation revealed persistent big differences in views. The Kremlin, for its part, gave no hint that Moscow is ready to back down from its key demands, saying in a statement that achieving peace is possible only if the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation are fully and unconditionally taken into account.