Kremlin says Russia-Ukraine peace talks on 'pause'

The Kremlin said Friday that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine were on "pause" as U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to end the three-and-a-half-year conflict falter.

Pushing for a deal to end the fighting, Trump has engaged in a flurry of diplomacy -- including hosting Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska -- but Moscow has pressed on with its offensive and aerial barrages.

"Our negotiators have the opportunity to communicate through channels. But for now, it is probably more accurate to talk about a pause," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP, in a briefing call.

"You can't wear rose-tinted glasses and expect that the negotiation process will yield immediate results," he added.

Putin has effectively ruled out a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who says a summit is vital to break the deadlock.

Russia has been escalating attacks on Ukraine, launching its biggest ever aerial assault last week that killed several people and set a government building in the capital Kyiv ablaze.

Three rounds of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul have failed to yield anything more than large-scale prisoner exchanges.

Russia has maintained a series of hardline demands, including that Ukraine fully cedes the eastern Donbas region -- parts of which it still controls.

Kyiv has rejected territorial concessions and wants European troops to be deployed to Ukraine as a peacekeeping force, something Moscow sees as unacceptable.