Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would hold direct talks with Russia only after a ceasefire was reached.

"After the ceasefire, we are ready to sit down in any format," Zelensky told reporters at a briefing a day before key talks in London on a potential settlement to the conflict in Ukraine.

Trump, who promised during the election campaign to strike a deal between Moscow and Kiev within 24 hours, has failed since returning to office three months ago to extract concessions from Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt his troops' offensive in Ukraine.

Over the weekend, Trump said he hoped a peace deal would be struck "this week," though there is no sign the two sides are close to an agreement on even a ceasefire.

On April 22, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov warned against rushing a ceasefire, telling a Russian state television reporter that the issue was too "complicated" for a quick decision.

"It's not worth setting any hard deadlines and trying to reach a settlement, a viable settlement, in the short term," he said.

Meanwhile, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told state media that US presidential envoy Steve Whitkoff is expected to arrive in Moscow this week, his fourth visit to Russia since Trump took office.

Moscow's forces occupy about a fifth of Ukrainian territory and tens of thousands of people have died since the war began in February 2022.

After rejecting a U.S.-Ukrainian offer of a full and unconditional ceasefire last month, Putin announced a surprise Easter truce over the weekend.

Fighting subsided during the 30-hour period, but on April 21 and 22 Russia launched new attacks on residential areas, Ukrainian officials said.

Kiev and its allies dismissed the truce as a public relations exercise by Putin.

"The Easter truce, which he announced somewhat unexpectedly, was a marketing operation, a charm operation aimed at preventing President Trump from becoming impatient and angry," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. | BGNES