Zelenskyy Offers to Meet Putin, But Russia Unlikely to Accept It

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday renewed his offer to meet with Russia's Vladimir Putin and negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, but hopes of progress were low as delegations prepared to hold another round of talks.

- AGENCIES KYIV

Russian forces, meanwhile, pounded four Ukrainian cities in nighttime attacks that officials said killed a child.

Putin has spurned Zelenskyy's previous offers of a face-to-face meeting to end Europe's biggest conflict since World War II. But the Ukrainian leader insists that lower-level delegations like the ones expected for talks in Istanbul on Wednesday don't have the political heft to stop the fighting. The sides remain far apart on how to end the war begun by Russia's full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

"Ukraine never wanted this war, and it is Russia that must end the war that it itself started," Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post.

The Kremlin dampens hopes for Istanbul talks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that "a lot of work needs to be done before having a detailed discussion on a possibility of high-level meetings," effectively scrapping hopes of a summit any time soon. He didn't provide a date for the Istanbul talks.

Ukrainian and Western officials have accused the Kremlin of stalling in talks in order for its bigger army to capture more Ukrainian land. Russia currently holds about 20% of Ukraine.