To begin, links to Reuters and Associated Press reports; click on the news agencies’ names below for some of their other stories. Finally, from Global Research, a link to two things: journalist Mike Whitney’s view of Scott Ridder’s considerable readjustment of his own previous analyses of the war in Ukraine; and a video of a conversation two Saturdays ago Ridder and Ray McGovern had with host Garland Nixon on his show Saturday Morning Live. The conversation puts the current war into a global context lacking in much of the coverage of it so far. — MCM

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Pummeled by Russian offensive in the east, Ukraine rules out ceasefire, by Natalia Zinets and Tom Balmforth  | Reuters * Ukraine rules out ceasefire, concessions * Russia launches assault in Luhansk * Polish president in Ukraine to address parliament today | 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. “Worrying voices have appeared, saying that Ukraine should give in to [President Vladimir] Putin’s demands,” Duda said . . . READ MORE .  .  .

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Fate of 2,500 Ukrainian POWs from steel plant stirs concern, by Elena Becatoros, Oleksandr Stashevskyi and Ciaran McQuillan | The Associated Press POKROVSK, Ukraine — With Russia claiming to have taken prisoner nearly 2,500 Ukrainian fighters from the besieged Mariupol steel plant, concerns grew about their fate as a Moscow-backed separatist leader vowed they would face tribunals. Russia has declared its full control of the Azovstal steel plant . . . now in ruins with more than 20,000 residents feared dead. The seizure gives Russian President Vladimir Putin a badly wanted victory in the war he began nearly three months ago. As the West rallies behind Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda arrived in Ukraine on an unannounced visit and will address the country’s parliament on today, his office said. . . . With Russia blocking Ukraine’s sea ports, Poland has become a major gateway for Western humanitarian aid and weapons going into Ukraine and has been helping Ukraine get its grain . . . READ MORE . . .

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The War in Ukraine: Scott Ritter’s Switcheroo: ‘Why I Radically Changed My Overall Assessment,’ by Mike Whitney | Global Research The foreign policy blogs were abuzz last Sunday with the news that [the day before, May 14] Scott Ritter had done “an about-face in his assessment of the war”. It appears that the ex-Marine had examined recent developments in Ukraine and concluded that it’s going to be much harder for Russia to win than he had originally thought. . . . Naturally, the news of Ritter’s reversal sent shockwaves across the internet, especially among the people who follow events in Ukraine closely and who greatly admire his even-handed analysis. Some of these people clearly felt betrayed by Ritter’s comments and blasted him as a “concern troll” which refers to a person who feigns sympathy while actually feeling the opposite. This is a terrible way . . . READ MORE . . .