Russia is ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine, according to its chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky. "For our part, we are ready to continue the dialogue," Medinsky said in an interview with Belarusian state television on Sunday. The chief negotiator sees the ball in Ukraine's court. After all, he said, Ukraine had suspended the talks. "Russia has never rejected negotiations," Medinsky said.

Talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators had initially taken place regularly after the start of the Russian military action in Ukraine on 24 February - in person or via video conference. The foreign ministers of both countries had met for talks in Turkey in March, which remained inconclusive. This was followed by a meeting of delegations in Istanbul, which also brought no progress.

On Tuesday, Ukraine's chief negotiator and presidential adviser Mychailo Podolyak said talks with Moscow were "suspended". Podolyak went on to say that the Russian side was not interested in serious negotiations. The talks should be resumed only if concrete proposals are made, Kiev's negotiator had said. Accordingly, a face-saving solution for Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin was rejected there.

On Thursday, he added that a ceasefire would be impossible without the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. Kiev does not want a new Minsk Agreement because then the "war will start all over again in a few years". Podoljak went on to write: "Until Russia is ready to fully liberate the occupied territories, our negotiating team consists of weapons, sanctions and money."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky castigated the ongoing Russian shelling on Saturday - and stressed the importance of diplomacy to end the war. Russian shelling of the Donbass has increased after the fall of Mariupol. Heavy shelling was reported especially from the area around the towns of Severodonetsk and Lyssychansk.