Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko has said that no negotiations are currently taking place between Russia and Ukraine, according to the Interfax news agency.

“No, negotiations are not continuing. “Ukraine has practically withdrawn from the negotiation process,” he told reporters in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.

Rudenko said Kiev had withdrawn from diplomatic talks after he reiterated that negotiations were not taking place “in any form”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously told the BBC that he understood the need for dialogue with Russia – and that, in their view, “not all diplomatic bridges have been burned”.