Ukraine-Russia war live: Moscow ‘laid out territorial demands for peace’ at summit

The Kremlin has claimed that it considers a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky possible, despite the Russian president failing to show up for such a meeting in Istanbul only days ago.

According to the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul this possibility was discussed during Friday’s talks, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Saturday that Moscow considered such a meeting was possible, but only as a result of work between the two sides to “achieve certain results in the form of agreements”.

But seeking once again to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Mr Zelensky as Ukraine’s president, given the war-torn country has been unable to hold elections, Mr Peskov claimed: “At the same time, when signing documents that the delegations are to agree upon, the main and fundamental thing for us remains who exactly will sign these documents from the Ukrainian side.”

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov held a phone call with US secretary of state Marco Rubio in which he praised the “positive role” of the United States in helping to secure a resumption of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine.

The Russian foreign ministry also said that Mr Lavrov had agreed with Mr Rubio to continue further contacts between Russia and the US.

Three days of mourning has been declared in Bilopillya following the death of nine people in a drone strike.

“This bus was carrying people out of the city for evacuation,” the head of the town’s administration, Yurii Zarko, told the Suspilne news site.

“Wounded were treated at the scene and then moved to a hospital in Sumy. We are currently retrieving the bodies. Some victims have not yet been identified. Most of them are elderly women, along with two or three men.”

Pope Leo XIV suggested holding peace talks between Ukraine and Russia at the Vatican.

The Vatican described the outcome of talks in Istanbul this week as “tragic”, according to Politico.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, told reporters on Friday: “This is all tragic because we hoped that it would be a, maybe slow, process, but with a peaceful solution to the conflict, and instead we are back at the beginning.”

“The pope plans to make the Vatican, the Holy See, available for a direct meeting between the two sides,” he added.

Russian negotiators at peace talks in Istanbul demanded Kyiv pull its troops out of all the Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire, a senior Ukrainian official has told Reuters.

The Kremlin declined to comment on the terms that Russia had put forward at Friday’s meeting in Turkey – the first time the warring sides had held face-to-face talks since March 2022, weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Ukraine and Western governments, including the U.S., have demanded that Russia agree to an immediate, unconditional ceasefire lasting at least 30 days.

But the Ukrainian source said Moscow’s negotiators had demanded the withdrawal of troops from the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Luhansk regions, with a ceasefire to take place only after that.

The source said that and other demands went beyond the terms of a draft peace deal that the United States proposed last month after consultations with Moscow.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the Ukrainian account, saying talks should be conducted “absolutely behind closed doors”.

He said the next steps would be to carry out the prisoner exchange and conduct further work between the two sides. Peskov said it was possible that President Vladimir Putin could meet Zelenskiy, but only if “certain agreements” were reached, which he did not specify.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped to achieve a definitive result from peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, according to a transcript of remarks he made to journalists on his return flight from Albania overnight.

On Friday delegates from the warring countries met in Istanbul for their first face-to-face peace talks since March 2022, the month after Russia invaded its neighbour, but the sides failed to reach agreement on a ceasefire.

Erdogan said that Turkey was determined to continue its mediation role between its Black Sea neighbours Ukraine and Russia, adding that dialogue and negotiations should continue between the warring parties to achieve peace.

Russian attacks have killed at least 13 people and injured 32 across Ukraine over the past 24 hours, according to local authorities.

Russian forces launched a drone assault across Ukraine overnight, using 62 drones from Russia and occupied Crimea, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.

Ukrainian Air Force shot down 36 drones over multiple regions. Six decoy UAVs were lost through electronic warfare and did not reach their targets, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each in their first talks for more than three years.

But the two sides fell short of negotiating a ceasefire as Kyiv said Moscow had presented conditions that were “non-starters”.

Following the drone strike Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that there are currently seven wounded people in hospital.

He said: “The victims have suffered burns, fractures, and blast injuries.

“All of them are receiving the necessary medical assistance. Tragically, nine people were killed. All the details are being verified.

“According to preliminary reports, the Russians killed a family: father, mother, and daughter died in the attack.”

“My condolences to all the families and loved ones,” he added.

He claimed: “The Russians could not have failed to understand what kind of vehicle they were targeting. This was a deliberate killing of civilians.”