Peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv will resume on Friday, a senior Ukrainian official has said, amid mounting western scepticism about Russia’s intentions in the talks more than five weeks into its invasion of Ukraine, writes The Guardian.

A Ukrainian negotiator, David Arakhamia, said that talks would continue by video, focusing on the peace framework the Ukrainian side presented during a face-to-face meeting in Istanbul this week that Moscow described as constructive.

Russia’s foreign ministry said Moscow would not refuse a separate meeting between the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, providing the talks between them were “substantive”.