Pummeled by Russian offensive in the east, Ukraine rules out ceasefire

'The war will not stop. It will just be put on pause for some time,' said Ukrainian Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak 

Destroyed trams stand in a depot in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine. Picture: AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov

Ukraine ruled out a ceasefire or any territorial concessions to Moscow while Russia intensified its attack in the eastern Donbas region and stopped sending gas to Finland in its latest response to Western sanctions and its deepening international isolation.

Polish President Andrzej Duda told Ukraine's parliament that ceding even "one inch" of the country's territory would be a blow to the whole West and reassured Kyiv of Warsaw's strong backing for its European Union membership bid.