Russia's offensive in eastern Ukraine was gaining speed and seizing more ground Wednesday ahead of a summit in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin.

According to an AFP analysis of battlefield data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces have made their biggest 24-hour advance into Ukraine in more than a year.

And, as battle raged, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders met to hold urgent online talks with Trump, hoping to convince him to respect Kyiv's interests during Friday's looming summit with Putin.

Zelensky flew to Berlin and met Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday before both were to be joined online by French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European leaders

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