Moscow has expressed its readiness to return to the negotiating table with Ukraine and confirmed that it is studying a peace plan proposed by Italy, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded from Davos to impose "maximum" sanctions on Russia.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said that Moscow is ready to return to negotiations with Ukraine when Kyiv shows a constructive reaction to the latest documents submitted by Moscow.

Meanwhile, the Russian official did not rule out the possibility of discussing the issue of exchanging prisoners of the Azovstal Industrial Complex in the city of Mariupol with Ukraine.

Russian news agencies quoted Rudenko as saying that his country had received the peace plan proposed by Italy, stressing that Moscow would give its opinion on it after completing its study.

On Friday, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio announced that his country had proposed to the United Nations the formation of an "international facilitation group" to try to reach a "step-by-step" ceasefire in Ukraine.

The Italian plan - according to the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" - which was handed over to the United Nations, included a ceasefire in Ukraine, disarmament on the front under the supervision of the United Nations, and negotiations with Ukraine on its accession to the European Union, not NATO.

The plan also includes a bilateral agreement (Russia and Ukraine) on the Crimea and Donbas so that these disputed territories will enjoy full autonomy with the right to guarantee their security but will be under Ukrainian sovereignty.

According to the Italian plan, a multilateral peace and security agreement will be concluded in Europe with the main objective of disarmament, arms control and conflict prevention.


"Maximum" penalties

On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his government is in talks with some countries to find alternatives to exporting Ukrainian grain after Russian forces blockaded Ukrainian ports.

In his speech at the Davos summit via video, Zelensky added that any dealings with the Russian markets at this stage would lead to a loss for all, and stressed Ukraine's readiness to help the world in facing the wave of hunger that threatens humanity.

The Ukrainian president said that Russia had become a country of war criminals, and that it would not have launched war on Ukraine if "maximum sanctions" had been imposed on it before.

He called for an oil embargo on Russia, sanctions on all of its banks, and the abandonment of its information technology sector, while urging all foreign companies to leave.

In Tokyo, US President Joe Biden said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to erase Ukraine's identity after failing to occupy it and will pay the price for it.

For his part, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stressed the need to strengthen the alliance and defense cooperation between Japan and the United States of America.

Kishida stressed that his country is committed to confronting Russia's aggression against Ukraine by working through the Group of Seven.


in the field

In the field, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the destruction of a shipment of weapons and equipment for the Ukrainian army in Zhytomyr province.

The ministry spokesman said that the Russian air defenses also shot down 3 Ukrainian planes yesterday.

On the other hand, a spokesman for the Ukrainian General Staff Oleksandr Stubun said that his country's forces continue to repel Russian attacks in the direction of Donetsk and Lugansk, and added that his country's forces destroyed military equipment and vehicles belonging to the Russian army.

The Ukrainian General Staff announced that Russia had lost 29,200 soldiers since the beginning of the military offensive launched by Moscow on Ukraine in late February.

In this context, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced - at the Davos summit - that 87 people were killed in a Russian strike targeting a military base earlier this month in an area in northern Ukraine controlled by Ukrainian forces.

The Russian strikes targeting the "Desna" were a rare attack on an area near the capital, weeks after Ukrainian forces retook the area following the withdrawal of Russian forces.

In turn, the US Embassy in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, said that the US Marine Corps is preparing to send howitzers to Kyiv, and the embassy added - in a tweet on Twitter - that the shipment is part of US assistance to Ukraine.

As for the Kremlin, it said that the militarization of Europe would not help in enhancing security and stability on the continent.