Ukraine proposes fresh peace talks with Russia next week

Kyiv has proposed to Moscow a new round of peace talks next week, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday, after negotiations stalled in early June.

Two rounds of talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv failed to result in any progress towards a ceasefire, instead yielding large-scale prisoner exchanges and deals to return the bodies of killed soldiers.

“Security council secretary [Rustem] Umerov also reported that he had proposed the next meeting with the Russian side for next week,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address to the country

“The momentum of the negotiations must be stepped up,” he added.

Zelenskyy reiterated his readiness to have a face-to-face meeting with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. “A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace – lasting peace,” he said.

Umerov, a former defence minister, was appointed last week as the head of the national security and defence council and tasked with adding more momentum to the negotiations.

Russia has been pressing a grinding offensive along the eastern front in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. It has repeatedly said it is ready for a new round of talks but has not backed down from its maximalist war aims.

At talks last month, Russia outlined a list of hardline demands, including calls for Ukraine to cede more territory and to reject all forms of western military support.

Kyiv dismissed them as unacceptable and at the time questioned the point of further negotiations if Moscow was not willing to make concessions.

The Kremlin said this month it was ready to continue talks with Ukraine after Donald Trump gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal or face sanctions.

The US president also pledged to supply Kyiv with new military aid, sponsored by Nato allies, as its cities suffer ever-increasing Russian aerial attacks.

Russian strikes on Ukraine claimed another three lives on Saturday.