MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western countries on Sunday of trying to “block” peace negotiations to end the Ukraine conflict, after a flurry of diplomatic activity appeared to stall. US President Donald Trump has been championing a bilateral meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents — but both sides have blamed each other for not wanting the talks to come through. “They’re just looking for a pretext to block negotiations,” Lavrov said in an interview with state TV station Rossiya aired Sunday on Telegram.

Volodymyr Zelensky urges Western allies to impose fresh sanctions on Moscow if it shows no interest in peace.

Vladimir Zelensky "is also being stubborn, putting forward some conditions, demanding an immediate meeting with Putin, no matter what", the Russian foreign minister added