Russia willing to negotiate peace in Ukraine while pursuing its objectives

Russia is open to peace with Ukraine but achieving 'our goals' remains a priority, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. His comment comes days after US President Donald Trump gave Moscow a deadline to agree to a ceasefire or face tougher sanctions. Mr Peskov and other Russian officials have repeatedly rejected accusations from Kyiv and its western partners of stalling peace talks.

Meanwhile, Moscow continues to intensify its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities, with more drones launched in a single night than during some entire months in 2024, and analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate. Mr Peskov told state TV reporter Pavel Zarubin: '(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin has repeatedly spoken of his desire to bring the Ukrainian settlement to a peaceful conclusion as soon as possible. 'This is a long process, it requires effort, and it is not easy. The main thing for us is to achieve our goals. Our goals are clear.'

The Kremlin has insisted any peace deal should see Ukraine withdraw from the four regions that Russia illegally annexed in September 2022 but never fully captured. It also wants Ukraine to renounce its bid to join NATO and accept strict limits on its armed forces, demands Kyiv and its Western allies have rejected.

In his nightly address yesterday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said his officials had proposed a new round of peace talks this week. Russian state media reported today that no date had yet been set for the negotiations but that Istanbul would likely remain the host city.

Mr Trump threatened Russia on 14 July with steep tariffs and announced a rejuvenated pipeline for US weapons to reach Ukraine, hardening his stance towards Moscow after months of frustration following unsuccessful negotiations aimed at ending the war. The direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul resulted in several rounds of prisoner exchanges, but little else.

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 18 of 57 Shahed-type and decoy drones launched by Russia overnight, with seven more disappearing from radar. Two women were injured in Zaporizhzhia, a southern Ukrainian region partly occupied by Russia, when a drone struck their house, according to the regional military administration. Two more civilians were injured in Izium, north-eastern Ukraine, after a drone hit a residential building, local Ukrainian officials said.

Later, drones struck a leafy square in the centre of Sumy, wounding a woman and her seven-year-old son, officials said. The strike also damaged a power line, leaving some 100 households without electricity, according to Serhii Krivosheienko of the municipal military administration. Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had shot down 93 Ukrainian drones targeting Russian territory overnight, including at least 15 that appeared to be headed for Moscow. Ten more drones were downed on the approach to the capital today, according to mayor Sergei Sobyanin. He said one drone had struck a residential building in Zelenograd, on the outskirts of Moscow, damaging an apartment but causing no casualties.