Zelenskyy renews offer to meet with Putin as officials say Russian attacks kill a child in Ukraine
Russian forces, meanwhile, pounded four Ukrainian cities in nighttime attacks that officials said killed a child.
Putin has spurned Zelenskyy's previous offers of a face-to-face meeting to end Europe's biggest conflict since World War II. But the Ukrainian leader insists that lower-level delegations like the ones expected for talks in Istanbul on Wednesday don't have the political heft to stop the fighting. Each side's demands for ending Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour, launched on Feb. 24, 2022, remain far apart.
'Ukraine never wanted this war, and it is Russia that must end the war that it itself started,' Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post.
Kremlin dampens hopes for Istanbul talks
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that 'a lot of work needs to be done before having a detailed discussion on a possibility of high-level meetings,' effectively scotching hopes of a summit any time soon. He didn't provide a date for the Istanbul talks.
Ukrainian and Western officials have accused the Kremlin of stalling in talks in order for its bigger army to capture more Ukrainian land. Russia currently holds about 20% of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy's announcement late Monday that the negotiations would take place generated little hope of progress. That is despite the Trump administration's efforts to push forward peace efforts, which have moved slowly because Putin is reluctant to budge from his demands.
Peskov said that 'we have no reason to expect any magical breakthroughs, it's hardly possible in the current situation.'
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