Ukraine-Russia morning briefing: Five key developments as Liz Truss warns peace talks are a Putin ‘ploy’

Good morning. As Vladimir Putin appeared at a flag-waving rally in Moscow – in a £10,500 coat and apparently limping – Russia’s advance stalled amid intense Ukrainian resistance with more Western weapons pouring into the country.

Meanwhile, the leader of Russia’s delegation in diplomatic talks with Kyiv said the two sides have narrowed their difference while the Ukrainian side said its position remained unchanged.

Here’s what happened overnight – and you can follow the latest updates in our live blog.

1. Liz Truss: Talks could be a ‘smokescreen’

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Friday that she fears peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are being used as a “smokescreen” by the Kremlin to allow forces to regroup.

In an interview with The Times, Ms Truss said: “If a country is serious about negotiations, it doesn’t indiscriminately bomb civilians that day.”

The minister said she was “very sceptical” about the negotiations, and added: “What we’ve seen is an attempt to create space for the Russians to regroup.”

“We don’t see any serious withdrawal of Russian troops or any serious proposals on the table.”

2. Russia claims it uses hypersonic missiles for first time

Russia used its newest Kinzhal hypersonic missiles for the first time in Ukraine on Friday to destroy a weapons storage site in the country’s west, the defence ministry said.

“The Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse containing missiles and aviation ammunition” in the village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region,” the Russian defence ministry said Saturday.

State news agency RIA Novosti said it was the first use of the Kinzhal hypersonic weapons during what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in pro-Western Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has termed the Kinzhal (Dagger) missile “an ideal weapon” that flies at 10 times the speed of sound and can overcome air-defence systems.

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3. Russian forces enter Mariupol

Russia has claimed that its soldiers have entered the centre of the besieged port city of Mariupol, which has been bombarded by shelling for days.

“Units of the Donetsk People’s Republic, with the support of the Russian armed forces” are also “squeezing the encirclement” the defence ministry said.

The mayor of the city confirmed to the BBC that gun battles had reached the heart of the city.

On Friday, 130 people were rescued from under the rubble of a bombed theatre in the city, but hundreds are feared to be still trapped.

4. Volodymyr Zelensky warns Russia it will take ‘generations’ to recover its losses

Volodymyr Zelensky called again for talks with Moscow on Saturday, saying they were the “only chance for Russia to minimise the damage done with their own mistakes” after invading.

The two sides are currently holding negotiations remotely but so far, like previous rounds, they have yielded little progress. None have been at the presidential level.

“This is the time to meet, to talk, time for renewing territorial integrity and fairness for Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky said in a video posted to Facebook.

“Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such, that several generations will not recover.”

5. Ukraine claims to have killed fifth Russian general

A member of the Russian military was killed in the Ukrainian town of Chernobayevka after an artillery strike, said Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces in a Facebook post on Saturday.

In the post, it said Lieutenant General Andrei Mordvichev, commander of the 8th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces had died.

Ukraine now claims to have killed five Russian general during the first four weeks of the war.