Kyiv has repeatedly proposed freezing the conflict along current front lines as part of a broader peace agreement. Moscow has instead insisted that any settlement would require Ukraine to surrender the entire Donetsk region.

Ukraine's president said most Russians had grown tired of Ukrainian missile and drone attacks, inflation and fuel shortages, and were ready for peace.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy sent an open letter to Putin proposing direct peace talks, a ceasefire, and prisoner exchange as the war enters its fifth