Kyiv unleashes drones on Russian city as Putin mocks peace talks – Ukraine war live

Vladimir Putin brought up the subject of potential peace talks and said he was open to what he called realistic negotiations.

But he is opposed to the two-day conference to be hosted by Switzerland in June at Ukraine’s request that seeks to achieve peace, saying it is pointless if Russia does not take part.

In his view, the meeting does not take new realities into account, including Moscow’s annexation of territory in eastern Ukraine.

An aborted 2022 peace deal between Russia and Ukraine could be the basis for new negotiations but there is no sign that Kyiv is ready for talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said yesterday.

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that Russia and Ukraine were on the verge of agreeing a deal to end hostilities during negotiations in Istanbul in April 2022, but that Ukraine backed away from it once Russian troops fell back from near Kyiv.

The deal reportedly demanded that Ukraine adopt neutrality and not join Nato, limit the size of its armed forces and grant special status to Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine – all things which Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has made clear he opposes.

The Belgian Prime Minister has announced an investigation into suspected Russian interference in June’s Europe-wide elections, saying his country’s intelligence service has confirmed the existence of a network trying to undermine support for Ukraine.

“Belgian intelligence services have confirmed the existence of pro-Russian interference networks with activities in several European countries and also here in Belgium,” said Alexander De Croo, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.

Mr De Croo said Belgian agencies were working closely with the Czech authorities after a pro-Russian influence operation was uncovered there.

He said that probe showed that members of the European Parliament were approached and offered money to promote Russian propaganda.

“According to our intelligence service, the objectives of Moscow are very clear. The objective is to help elect more pro-Russian candidates to the European Parliament and to reinforce a certain pro-Russian narrative in that institution,” he told reporters.

Europe-wide polls are being held on 6-9 June to elect a new EU parliament.

Mr De Croo said: “The goal is very clear: A weakened European support for Ukraine serves Russia on the battlefield and that is the real aim of what has been uncovered in the last weeks.”

Rescue workers in Ukraine have pulled five puppies from under the rubble of a destroyed building.

Officials said the animals were rescued from a non-residential building on fire in the northeastern city of Sumy, close to the border with Russia.

A video showed the puppies squealing as the firefighters cuddled them and rinsed them off with water.

“Fortunately, everything is fine with the little one(s), they were not injured. The furries were returned by their mothers,” officials said in a post on the emergency services’ Telegram channel.

“This rescue story reminds us of the importance of human compassion and the willingness to help everyone, regardless of the circumstances,” they added.

A draft peace agreement that Russia and Ukraine negotiated in the early days of the war could serve as a starting point for talks to end the fighting, the Kremlin said Friday, reviving a proposal that Ukraine has rejected:

China has sent a wave of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Russia to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for use in its war on Ukraine, according to a US assessment: