Russia said  that it did not rule out a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, but that any such talks needed to be prepared in advance.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a call that work on a peace document with Ukraine had stopped a long time ago and had not restarted.

Peskov said that people in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Donbas must decide their own futures and the Kremlin did not doubt they would make the “best decision”.

Ukraine has previously said that annexation of the regions by Russia would end peace talks between the two sides.