Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out holding talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and has signed a decree, declaring any talks between Kyiv and Mr Putin “impossible.”
The decree formalised comments made by Mr Zelensky about Mr Putin on Friday.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s soldiers have ripped through Russian defences in the country’s south and recaptured several villages along the Dnipro river on Monday, Ukrainian officials and Moscow’s leaders in the area said.
This marks Kyiv’s biggest breakthrough in the south in the seven-month course of the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has praised Elon Musk for his much-derided Twitter intervention in which he polled his followers on whether, and which, parts of Ukrainian territory should be formally handed to Russia.
The Tesla chief was swiftly rebuffed by Mr Zelensky and even told to “f*** off” by a Ukrainian diplomat.
