Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Moscow's willingness to engage in peace talks with Ukraine for the first time in weeks, saying it will be "more difficult" for Kyiv to "make a deal" if the war lasts longer.
Putin made his announcement following the Russian military victory in the province of Luhansk this week and their attack on Donetsk province in the Donbas region, per Fox News.
After Putin's army failed to capture Kyiv in the early stages of the conflict, Russia's attack on Ukraine has since focused on the eastern Donbas region.
The Russia-Ukraine War has been occurring for more than four months, and neither side shows signs of surrendering soon.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Thursday that his country is unwilling to lose any of its territories to Russia and that giving up Ukrainian territory won't be a part of any diplomatic talks to stop the conflict.
Ukraine Not Willing To Give Up
In an interview with CNN, Zelensky said: "Ukrainians are not ready to give away their land, to accept that these territories belong to Russia. "This is our land, we always talk about that, and we are intending to prove it."
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of waging a proxy war in Ukraine on Thursday and said that the world should know the war is just beginning, nearly five months after launching the invasion.
In front of Russia's parliamentary leaders, Putin declared: "Everybody should know that largely speaking, we haven't even yet started anything in earnest."
He added that the "course of history is unstoppable" and the collective efforts of the West "to enforce its version of the global order are doomed to fail."
Blinken: Putin's Peace Talk Offer Is Just Empty Words
US officials have recently stated that Russia's peace negotiations gestures are probably just empty rhetoric.
In last week's NATO Public Forum, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that Vladimir Putin is not exhibiting "any interest" in engaging in any kind of "meaningful diplomatic initiative."
However, as per CNN, White House officials admitted last week that even with the help of heavier and more advanced weapons that the US and its allies plan to give Kyiv, the hope is running out for Ukraine to reclaim all the territory it has lost to Russia since the war started in February.
Zelensky nevertheless expressed appreciation for the military assistance that Ukraine has got from the US, which has delivered weaponry that was more powerful as the conflict has stretched on, and he urged the West to keep providing military assistance to back Ukraine in its battle.
Ukraine's head of state acknowledged the United States' significant military assistance to Ukraine, but he said, "it's not enough to win."
"We want the increment of this help -- we're fighting for our land, we don't want people from different countries to fight for our territory. But the US is a world economy and can help us with both arms and finances," Zelensky noted.
In other updates, Blinken directly addressed Russia during the G20 meetings on Thursday, urging Moscow to allow Ukraine to export grain to the world, according to a Western official.
The official, who requested anonymity, told Al Jazeera that the US Secretary of State" addressed Russia directly, saying: 'To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine is not your country. Its grain is not your grain. Why are you blocking the ports? You should let the grain out,'" said the official who did not want to be otherwise identified.
Russia's blockade of Ukraine's grain and other agricultural exports is one of the drivers of the global increase in food prices, according to experts.
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