Russia says it favours new round of peace talks with Ukraine

The Kremlin said on Monday that Moscow was in favour of a new round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine but the two sides' positions were diametrically opposed, so there was a lot of diplomatic work to be done.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Kyiv has sent Moscow an offer to hold another round of peace talks this week, and that he wants to speed up negotiations for a ceasefire.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that as soon as there was a definitive understanding of the date for the next round of talks then Moscow would announce it.

"There is our draft memorandum, there is a draft memorandum that has been handed over by the Ukrainian side. There is to be an exchange of views and talks on these two drafts, which are diametrically opposed so far," Peskov said.

Ukraine and Russia have held two rounds of talks in Istanbul, on May 16 and June 2, that led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers. But the two sides have made no breakthrough towards a ceasefire or a settlement to end almost three and a half years of war.