Peace talks and a settlement in Ukraine have never been on the real agenda of the West, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday, in her first comments on negotiations since Russian and Ukrainian officials held talks on Wednesday.

Ukrainian drones hit Russia's Sochi resort while Russian forces bombarded Odessa's residential areas and historic Pryvoz market, hours after ceasefire talks collapsed.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both sides have launched multiple drone attacks on each other. Ukraine, which is fighting a much larger Russian army, has developed a drone industry from scratch and is now focusing on increasing its capacity to produce more long-range drones.

EXCLUSIVE: Meet the enterprising trainee lawyer who helped invent a unique website used by millions of people every day to monitor what is happening on the ground in war-torn Ukraine

Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds and Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur discuss reaching peace in Europe on 'Special Report.'

Ukraine said it is holding back Russia’s summer offensive in eastern regions but has only received pledges from western allies to provide three of the 10 US-built Patriot air defence systems that it needs to shield its cities from missile and drone strikes.