US President Donald Trump said Friday he would "probably" meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky next week, as Russia said its forces had seized the key mining town of Toretsk in east Ukraine.

Zelensky said Washington and Kyiv were planning "talks", but did not confirm a meeting between the two leaders.

Russia has been steadily grinding into east Ukraine for over a year, claiming dozens of mostly abandoned towns and villages despite heavy losses.

Toretsk is the biggest settlement Russia claims to have captured since Avdiivka in February 2024.

Kyiv denied Russia had full control of the industrial hub.

The capture of Toretsk, which lies on elevated ground, would allow Moscow to further obstruct Ukrainian supply routes, paving the way for it to punch deeper into the northern part of the Donetsk region, according to military analysts.

Once a bustling coal mining centre, Toretsk had about 30,000 people before Russia's 2022 invasion, but by July last year the number of residents had fallen by 90 percent, according to the local administration.

Former resident Galyna Poroshyna told AFP that........

© International Business Times