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Sky News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Ukraine proposes renewed peace talks - as Zelenskyy urges Russia to 'stop avoiding decisions'
Volodmyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine has proposed renewed ceasefire talks with Russia for next week. The Ukrainian president said his government was working to implement the agreements reached during the last set of talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul. That was the second round of peace talks between representatives of Russia and Ukraine in just over two weeks. Mr Zelenskyy said negotiations with Russia on the prisoners of war swaps, agreed at the most recent talks, were ongoing. But despite the agreement, no progress has so far been made towards ending the war, according to officials. Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's delegation, has suggested holding the third round of direct peace talks next week, according to the president. "The negotiation dynamics need to be intensified. We must do everything possible to achieve a ceasefire," Mr Zelenskyy said. "The Russian side must stop avoiding decisions... A meeting at the leaders' level is needed to secure a lasting peace truly. Ukraine is ready for such a meeting." 👉 Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim on your podcast app 👈 Mr Zelenskyy's comments come as Russia launched a significant drone and missile attack on Ukraine overnight, killing one person, and injuring six others, in the port city of Odessa. The Ukrainian president said in a post on X that Russia had fired more than 300 drones and over 30 cruise missiles as part of the attack. The latest round of long-range attacks comes after Russia unleashed more than 700 drones on 8 July - a new record. Its stepped-up bombing campaign has dashed hopes for a breakthrough in the ongoing efforts to bring the war to an end, after more than three years of fighting. Russia's defence ministry said it had shot down 71 Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
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 Zelensky said Saturday, hours after Russian strikes across Ukraine claimed more lives. Two rounds of talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv have 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 Umerov... reported that he had proposed the next meeting with the Russian side for next week," Zelensky said in his evening address. "The momentum of the negotiations must be stepped up," he added. Zelensky reiterated his readiness to have a face-to-face sitdown with Putin. "A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace – lasting peace," he said. 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 earlier this month it was ready to continue talks with Ukraine after US President Donald Trump gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal or face sanctions. Trump also pledged to supply Kyiv with new military aid, sponsored by NATO allies, as its cities suffer ever-increasing Russian aerial attacks. - Russian strikes kill three - Russia has escalated long-range aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities as well as frontline assaults and shelling over recent months, defying Trump's warning. Most lately on Saturday, it had fired missile and drone strikes that killed three people across Ukraine. Two people died after a Russian missile hit Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub, into which Russia's forces have recently advanced. An earlier Russian salvo of 20 drones on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa killed at least one person overnight. Russia had to suspend trains for about four hours overnight, causing extensive delays in the southern Rostov region, when it came under a Ukrainian drone attack that wounded one railway worker. Moscow and Kyiv are menacing each other with swarms of cheap drones to overwhelm each other's air defence, as the warring sides said on Saturday they had intercepted hundreds of drones, now launched in large amounts almost daily. As part of the Istanbul agreements, Kyiv received 1,000 soldiers' bodies on Thursday, while Russia said it had received 19 from Ukraine. The European Union on Friday agreed an 18th package of sanctions on Moscow that targets Russian banks and lowers a price cap on oil exports, in a bid to curb its ability to fund the war. bur-asy/jj Solve the daily Crossword
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ukraine proposes new round of 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.
BBC News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Ukraine seeks new round of peace talks with Russia
Ukraine has proposed a new round of peace talks with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, in a move aimed at restarting negotiations that halted last security official Rustem Umerov has offered to meet the Russian side next week, Zelensky said in his evening address, adding that everything had to be done to get a also repeated his readiness to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin face-to-face. "A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace," he proposal came hours after Ukraine was hit with another widespread air bombardment by Russia, which killed three people. Buildings burn as another wave of Russian attacks hits UkraineUkrainians unimpressed by Trump's 50-day ultimatum to Putin Ten regions of Ukraine, including several cities, were hit in the night between Friday and Saturday, Zelensky said earlier on Saturday. Ukraine's military said more than 340 explosive and dummy drones and 35 cruise and ballistic missiles had been used, but many were downed. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said the US would send "top-of-the-line weapons" to Ukraine via Nato countries, while also threatening Russia with severe tariffs if a deal to end the war is not reached within 50 also warned that the US would impose 100% secondary tariffs targeting Russia's remaining trade partners if a peace deal with Ukraine was not reached by his deadline. Two rounds of talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv have so far failed to result in any progress towards a ceasefire, but large-scale prisoner exchanges and deals to return the bodies of killed soldiers were the last round, which ended in early June, Ukrainian negotiators said Russia had again rejected an "unconditional ceasefire" - a key demand by Kyiv and its allies in Europe and the US .Russia also outlined a list of demands, including calls for Ukraine to cede more territory and to reject all forms of Western military the time, Zelensky accused Moscow of "doing everything it can to ensure the next possible meeting is fruitless". Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February currently controls about 20% of Ukraine's territory, including the southern Crimea peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014.
France 24
13 hours ago
- Politics
- France 24
Ukraine proposes fresh peace talks with Russia next week
Two rounds of talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv have 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 Umerov... reported that he had proposed the next meeting with the Russian side for next week," Zelensky said in his evening address. "The momentum of the negotiations must be stepped up," he added. Zelensky reiterated his readiness to have a face-to-face sitdown with Putin. "A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace – lasting peace," he said. 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 earlier this month it was ready to continue talks with Ukraine after US President Donald Trump gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal or face sanctions. Trump also pledged to supply Kyiv with new military aid, sponsored by NATO allies, as its cities suffer ever-increasing Russian aerial attacks. Russian strikes kill three Russia has escalated long-range aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities as well as frontline assaults and shelling over recent months, defying Trump's warning. Most lately on Saturday, it had fired missile and drone strikes that killed three people across Ukraine. Two people died after a Russian missile hit Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub, into which Russia's forces have recently advanced. An earlier Russian salvo of 20 drones on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa killed at least one person overnight. Russia had to suspend trains for about four hours overnight, causing extensive delays in the southern Rostov region, when it came under a Ukrainian drone attack that wounded one railway worker. Moscow and Kyiv are menacing each other with swarms of cheap drones to overwhelm each other's air defence, as the warring sides said on Saturday they had intercepted hundreds of drones, now launched in large amounts almost daily. As part of the Istanbul agreements, Kyiv received 1,000 soldiers' bodies on Thursday, while Russia said it had received 19 from Ukraine. The European Union on Friday agreed an 18th package of sanctions on Moscow that targets Russian banks and lowers a price cap on oil exports, in a bid to curb its ability to fund the war.
