Ukraine Holds Further Peace Talks, US Senator Warns Russia Of New Sanctions

JAKARTA - Ukraine rejects pressure from the US and Russia to commit to attending the next round of peace negotiations on Monday next week.

Ukraine insists it needs to look at Russia's proposals, while a leading US senator warned Moscow it would be "hard hit" by US new sanctions.

US President Donald Trump previously urged Moscow and Kyiv to work together on an agreement to end their three-year war. Russia has proposed a second round of face-to-face negotiations with Ukrainian officials next week in Istanbul.

Kyiv expressed his commitment to seeking peace, but it is waiting for a memorandum from the Russian side to outline their proposal.

"In order for the meeting to be meaningful, the agenda must be clear, and negotiations must be well prepared," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Friday after hosting Turkish foreign ministers to negotiate in Kyiv.

"Unfortunately, Russia did everything it could to ensure that the next potential meeting yielded no results," he said, arguing that there were no documents from Russia.

Delegations from the two countries met in Istanbul on May 16 but the session resulted in few deals for prisoner swaps.

Zelenskyy said he and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan discussed in a phone call on the terms Ukraine must meet to participate in Monday's meeting proposed by Russia.

"There must be a ceasefire to move further towards peace. Murder of people must be stopped," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

"We agree that this meeting is not allowed and must not be empty," he continued.

He is not committed to Ukraine coming on Monday, although he Zelenskyy said he and Erdogan did discuss the possibility of holding a four-way meeting with leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United States.

Erdogan said it was important for Russia and Ukraine to send a strong delegation to Istanbul and added that gatherings of leaders could contribute to the peace process, the Turkish presidency said.

Republicans at the US Congress and White House advisers urged Trump to finally accept new sanctions against Russia to pressure Moscow.