Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would be “the most effective way forward” amid stalled diplomatic attempts to end the war as he celebrated Ukraine's Independence Day.
After a push by US President Donald Trump to broker a Ukraine-Russia summit, hopes for peace dimmed when Russia on Friday ruled out any immediate Putin-Zelensky meeting.
But Zelensky said Sunday the “format of talks between leaders is the most effective way forward”, renewing calls for a bilateral summit with Putin.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier accused Western countries of seeking “a pretext to block negotiations” and slammed Zelensky for “demanding an immediate meeting at all costs.”
Zelensky vowed to “to push Russia to peace” as he spoke at a ceremony attended by US envoy Keith Kellogg -- whom he awarded with the Ukrainian Order of Merit -- and other Western officials.
With the war having already claimed tens of thousands of lives, Russia has recently claimed new advances, including taking two villages in the eastern Donetsk region Saturday.
Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky said on Sunday that three other villages had been reclaimed in Donetsk, that has emerged as the focal point for peace talks.
Ukraine's Independence Day drone attacks in Russia included one shot down over the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in western Russia.
The plant said a fire sparked by the drone had been extinguished and there were no casualties or increased radiation levels.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned of the risks from fighting around nuclear plants following Russia's full-scale invasion launched in February 2022.
Russian authorities said Ukrainian drones had also been shot down over areas far from the front, including Saint Petersburg in the northwest.
Ten drones were shot down over the port of Ust-Luga on the Gulf of Finland, sparking a fire at a fuel terminal owned by Russian energy group Novatek, local authorities said.
Ukraine meanwhile said Russia had attacked with a ballistic missile and 72 Iranian-made Shahed attack drones, 48 of which the air force said had been shot down.
