War in Ukraine: Intense fighting in Bakhmut as Finland considers sending fighter jets to Kyiv

Intense fighting continued for the centre of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the site of the longest and bloodiest battle since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

"Assault detachments [of the Russian paramilitary group] Wagner are attacking from several locations, trying to break through the defence of our troops and advance to the central districts,” Oleksandr Syrsky, a Ukrainian ground forces commander in Bakhmut, said on Monday.

"The closer we are to the city centre, the harder the fighting is, and the more artillery there is," echoed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner paramilitary group.

On Sunday, he also described the situation in the city as “difficult, very difficult, with the enemy fighting for each metre.”

The city, which had a pre-war population of around 70,000 people, has been the epicentre of fighting on the eastern front for months, even though its strategic importance is disputed by experts.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Verchinin said after talks in Geneva that Moscow "is not opposed to a further extension" of the Ukrainian grain agreement reached last July between the UN, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey.

"But only for 60 days," he said, stressing that "our future position will be determined by tangible progress in the normalization of our agricultural exports, not in words but in deeds."

The UN and Turkey brokered the deal between the warring countries that allows Ukraine — one of the world’s key breadbaskets — to ship food and fertilizer from three of its Black Sea ports.

The 120-day agreement was renewed last November. That extension expires on Saturday, and another 120-day extension was on the table.

“The UN Secretary-General has confirmed that the UN will do everything possible to