The Kremlin said that Ukraine had rejected Russia's offer of political talks, while Kiev made it clear that Moscow had set unenforceable conditions, on the third day of the Russian war on Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian forces began advancing into Ukraine again on Saturday, after President Vladimir Putin ordered a halt to the offensive yesterday in anticipation of talks with Kiev that did not take place.
Peskov explained - in a press briefing - that Russia expected the West to impose sanctions on it in response to its invasion of Ukraine, adding that it was taking measures to reduce the impact of these sanctions on the economy to a minimum.
On the other hand, Mikhailo Podolak, adviser to the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told Reuters that Ukraine had not refused to negotiate, but Russia had set conditions that could not be accepted.
The Ukrainian advisor said that Kiev had prepared its negotiating position, while Russia had set unenforceable negotiating conditions from the beginning, stressing that Russia had never stopped the movements of its forces in Ukraine.
"Yesterday the combat operations of the armed forces of the Russian Federation escalated, up to the evening and night air and missile strikes on Ukrainian cities," he said in a message.
"We view such operations as an attempt to break Ukraine and force it to accept terms that are categorically unacceptable," he added.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that his country is ready to host peaceful negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, but the head of the Ukrainian border service said that Belarus is involved with Russia in the invasion of Ukraine.
Sanctions and support
On Saturday, President Zelensky called on Germany and Hungary to "show courage" and support Russia's exclusion from the "Swift" banking system to punish Moscow for invading his country.
"There is almost complete support from the European Union countries for excluding Russia from Swift," Zelensky said - in a video clip posted online - and expressed his hope that "Germany and Hungary will have the courage to support this decision."
Bloomberg reported that the United States is seriously considering the possibility of excluding Russia from the Swift system.
The Ukrainian President also thanked his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for preventing the passage of Russian warships in the Black Sea.
On the other hand, a Turkish official told Reuters that Ankara had not taken a decision to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to Russian ships.
The Russian news agency Interfax also reported that Russia had not received any official notification from Turkey about closing the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to Russian warships.
The Turkish presidency said in a statement that Ankara was making efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire.
The statement indicated that Erdogan expressed - in a telephone conversation with Zelensky today, Saturday - his condolences for the deaths of Ukrainians in the Russian attack.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called for an end to Russian military operations in Ukraine, during a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said - in a statement - that Cavusoglu confirmed during the call that Ankara is ready to host peace talks between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents.