KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian forces have stopped Russian troops advancing in the northeastern Sumy region and are now battling to regain control along the border with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

Russia has intensified attacks in Ukraine’s northeast, announcing plans to create a so-called ‘buffer zone’ in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

But Russia has managed to accelerate its rate of advance in recent months, as it did last fall, before wet, cold conditions slowed Moscow’s progress. Peace talks have stalled, bringing focus back to where the war will ultimately be decided: the battlefield.