Russia rejects pullout from Ukraine as condition for talks

A local resident receives a food at a mobile humanitarian aid point in the village of Zarichne, Donetsk region, Ukraine (Andriy Andriyenko/AP/PA)

Russia said on Friday that Western demands it should pull out completely from Ukraine as part of any future talks to end the war effectively rule out any such negotiations, as Russian strikes continued.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Russian President Vladimir Putin remains open to talks but the Western demand that Moscow first withdraws its troops from Ukraine is unacceptable.