Zelensky accuses Russia of buying time to stall peace talks

KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday accused Russia of delaying peace talks in a bid to press on with its three-year invasion, even as US President Donald Trump pushes for an immediate ceasefire.

Trump spoke by phone on Monday with Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, while Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul on Friday for their first direct talks on the conflict in more than three years.

But they failed to yield a truce, and Zelensky accused Putin of sending “empty heads” to the negotiating table. “It is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation,” Zelensky said in a post on social media. Trump framed his two-hour conversation with Putin, the third so far this year, as a breakthrough.

The Republican is seeking an elusive deal to end the war that he had promised on the campaign trail to solve in 24 hours. But Putin again rebuffed the call for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire, instead saying only that he was ready to work with Ukraine on a “memorandum” outlining a possible roadmap and different positions on ending the war. Moscow is feeling confident with its troops advancing on the battlefield and Trump having resumed dialogue with Putin after almost three years of the West shunning the Kremlin chief.