Russia's presidential spokesperson says that the country's troops started advancing again on Saturday afternoon due to Ukraine's refusal of negotiations over the crisis in Ukraine.

Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Saturday that President Vladimir Putin had previously ordered a halt to major troop movements. He added that Moscow expected to hold talks with Kyiv.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Putin to sit at the negotiating table with him to prevent people's lives from being lost.

The Kremlin responded that Russia would enter talks in neighboring Belarus on condition that the agenda includes Ukraine's neutral status.