A face-to-face meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders is needed "to truly ensure a lasting peace," Zelensky said late on Saturday.

Ukraine’s President’s offer came after Russian forces launched a fresh wave of drones at Ukrainian cities overnight.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday said Kyiv has proposed renewed peace talks with Moscow next week, urging direct negotiations with President Vladimir Putin. The call comes as Russian strikes killed at least three people in Ukraine,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 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.

Zelensky offers Putin fresh peace talks after weeks of Moscow’s missile strikes - Zelensky said he had offered Putin fresh peace talks starting from next week but did not give any more details

Putin’s offer put Zelensky under “huge pressure” to agree to hold talks in Turkey, Sergey Radchenko, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, told CNN.

Putin’s offer put Zelensky under “huge pressure” to agree to hold talks in Turkey, Sergey Radchenko, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, told CNN.

Putin has spurned Zelensky’s previous offers of a face-to-face meeting to end Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.

UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his offer today to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, as delegations from both governments prepared to hold a third round of direct talks. This followed Russian forces pounding three Ukrainian cities in nighttime attacks that officials said had killed a child.