Russia has called for a “cessation of hostilities” in US President Donald Trump’s “aggression against Iran”, after the United States and Israel launched unprovoked, coordinated attacks against the Islamic republic on February 28. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov offered mediation in the conflict, while Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed “deep concern”. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list But as a new war rages, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has barrelled into a fifth year with little sign of peace on the horizon. On February 27, Russian forces escalated their offensive by shelling outlying communities of Kramatorsk, a city in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russia has claimed. It was “the first time that Russian forces have hit Kramatorsk or its suburbs with tube artillery,” said the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank. Kramatorsk is one of four cities, along with Sloviansk, Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka, forming a “fortress belt” running from north to south, in whose defence Ukraine has heavily invested. Putin has demanded the surrender of the fortress belt as a …