Russia says progress has stalled in peace talks with Ukraine, as President Vladimir Putin’s forces stepped up their fierce assault on key cities, Fnancial Times reports.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, told reporters on Monday, March 21 that “the degree of progress falls short of what we would like”.

Ukraine and Russia are close to agreeing key points of a possible deal, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Sunday, including Kyiv renouncing its drive to join Nato and embracing “demilitarisation” in exchange for collective security guarantees.

Peskov thanked the mediators, led by Israel and Turkey, for their help in the talks. “It’s important to make Ukraine more amenable,” he said.

But Ukraine and its western allies are sceptical that Russia is negotiating in good faith as an air strike levelled a shopping centre in downtown Kyiv.

Though Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Putin to hold direct talks, Peskov said they would only happen if Kyiv “does its homework by holding negotiations and agreeing their results”.

“For now, there is no substantial movement. They won’t have any agreements to commit to.”

Peskov said Russia would not commit to a ceasefire before an agreement was reached because “nationalist groups use any pause in operations to regroup and continue attacking Russian forces”.