Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump envoy accuses Moscow of ‘stalling for time’ while bombing civilian targets

The Kremlin on Tuesday denied claims by US president Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine that Russia was stalling in peace talks, adding that Moscow had fulfilled all the agreements reached so far in the negotiations.

Trump’s senior envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said on Monday that “Russia cannot continue to stall for time while it bombs civilian targets in Ukraine.”

Asked about the remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia was grateful to Trump’s team for helping to facilitate talks but that Moscow was not stalling the talks.

“No one is delaying anything here,” Mr Peskov said.

“We are naturally in favor of achieving the goals that we are trying to achieve through the special military operation via political and diplomatic means. Therefore, we are not interested in drawing out anything.”

People are pictured standing next to destroyed shops at a market in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine following a missile strike.

Russia has taken full control of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, more than three years after President Vladimir Putin ordered thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian-backed head of the region told Russian state television.

Luhansk, which has an area of 26,700 square km (10,308 square miles), is the first Ukrainian region to fall fully under the established control of Russian forces since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Putin in September 2022 declared that Luhansk – along with the partially controlled Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions – was being incorporated into Russia, a step Western European states said was illegal and that most of the world did not recognise.

“The territory of the Luhansk People’s Republic is fully liberated – 100 per cent,” Leonid Pasechnik, who was born in Soviet Ukraine and is now a Russian-installed official cast by Moscow as the head of the “Luhansk People’s Republic”, told Russian state television.

Russia has taken full control of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, more than three years after President Vladimir Putin ordered thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian-backed head of the region told Russian state television.

Luhansk, which has an area of 26,700 square km (10,308 square miles), is the first Ukrainian region to fall fully under the established control of Russian forces since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Putin in September 2022 declared that Luhansk – along with the partially controlled Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions – was being incorporated into Russia, a step Western European states said was illegal and that most of the world did not recognise.

US President Donald Trump’s senior envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, said on Monday that Russia cannot continue to stall for time “while it bombs civilian targets in Ukraine”.

“We urge an immediate ceasefire and a move to trilateral talks to end the war,” Mr Kellogg wrote on X.

Volodymyr Zelensky says Vladimir Putin has spent the first six months of the year stalling against a ceasefire or peace.

“Putin has already stolen practically half a year from diplomacy — another half a year — on top of the entire duration of this war,” he said on X.

“Russia is not changing its plans and is not looking for a way out of this war. On the contrary, they are preparing for new operations, including on the territory of European countries. That’s their principle, the Russians look for where to exploit a weakness.

He continued: “They must see that there is the wherewithal to stop them everywhere. Therefore, more of our joint production, more resilience, more coordination and efficiency of our common security architecture in Europe.”

Russia destroyed 60 Ukrainian drones overnight, according to the Russian defence ministry.

Russia’s air defence units took the drones down over regions in southwest Russia and over the Crimean Peninsula, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, it said.