PUTIN BACKS PEACE... PROVIDING HE GETS ALL THAT HE WANTS

RUSSIAN and Ukrainian peace talks were dealt a major blow yesterday as the warring sides exchanged dozens of overnight drone attacks.

- CHRIS HUGHES

And Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukrainian forces remaining inside Russia as part of an incursion into his country would "die or be captured."

Putin said in a news conference that Kyiv's forces remaining in Kursk, inside Russia, were being "encircled" in small groups and were trapped, unable to get back to their homeland.

He declared: "We agree to stop fighting in Ukraine but it should be a long lasting peace. Our troops have been advancing all along the contact line.

"The enemy that broke into our territory is currently isolated. It is completely under our control.

"When Ukrainian troops try to retreat they are physically blocked.

"Nobody will be able to walk out of there."