Ukraine proposes fresh talks next week, Russia says no date agreed yet

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Kyiv has extended an offer to Moscow for a new round of peace talks next week, expressing desire to accelerate negotiations toward a ceasefire.

A source close to Russia's negotiating team confirmed the invitation but told TASS state news agency that no date had yet been agreed.

Ukraine and Russia have held two rounds of talks in Istanbul, Türkiye since mid-May. The two sides have agreed to swap prisoners but made no breakthroughs in ending the conflict, which has now stretched on for nearly three and a half years. 

"Everything should be done to achieve a ceasefire," Zelenskyy said in his evening national address. "The Russian side should stop hiding from decisions," he added.

He said Rustem Umerov, who headed the Ukrainian delegation at both talks in Istanbul,  had sent the proposal for a third meeting to the Russian side, though he did not offer further details. 

On Thursday, the TASS agency had quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova as saying that the Russian delegation was prepared to travel to Istanbul for a third round of negotiations with Ukraine. However, she noted that Moscow had not yet received any indication from Kyiv regarding its willingness to engage in new talks.

Meanwhile, both countries continue to escalate drone warfare to overwhelm each other's air defense. On Saturday, both sides reported intercepting hundreds of drones, as they increasingly rely on swarms of inexpensive unmanned aircraft to overwhelm each other's air defense systems.

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(With input from agencies)