Russia 'open' to talks on Ukraine but presses demands from West

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STORY: A wounded Ukrainian soldier is carried by stretcher into a field hospital close to the frontline in the embattled city of Bakhmut, as repeated Russian efforts to seize the area have transformed it into a center of intense fighting.

A 33-year-old military paramedic who would only give his first name, Ivan, said the fighting came in sudden, deadly waves.

"This work is different because you have a very small period of very high casualties. And there is a lot of going on, it is very fast. And all the battalions have casualties and you need to treat them fast. And it goes for like one week and it is over. So either we win or either we are forced to pull back."

Another Ukrainian service-member, who called himself Vladyslav, said it seemed like the Russians were attacking haphazardly.

“Judging from their equipment and the way they look, their actions and movements, they are simply creeping in, running, walking. They don’t have trained military staff, tactics.”

Ivan said it appeared activity was ramping up on both sides.

"Now we are preparing for something, I don’t know, but thanks God we have little casualties these last two days.”

Ukraine says Bakhmut is the main target for Moscow's artillery attacks, while Russian forces in the south remained on the defensive.

Western countries are trying to boost aid for Ukraine as it reels from Russian missile and drone attacks targeting key energy infra-structure that have left millions without heating, electricity and water.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who calls his intervention in Ukraine a "special military operation," said Friday he was open to negotiations but that the West must recognize Russia's "new territories”, parts of Ukraine it claims to have annexed... in a move condemned as illegal by most countries.

Putin’s comment came after discussions between U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, where Biden said he was ready to speak with Putin if the Russian leader was interested in ending the war.

"If that's the case, in consultation with my French, and NATO friends, I'll be happy to sit down Putin to see what he has in mind. He hasn't done that yet..."

Biden has not spoken directly with Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. In March, Biden branded Putin a "butcher" who "cannot stay in power".

Ukraine and the West say Putin has no justification for what they cast as an imperial-style war of occupation in which thousands of civilians have been killed. Kyiv says it will fight until the last Russian soldier is ejected from its territory.