UPDATED: Ukraine and Russia hold more peace talks

LVIV, Ukraine, March 21 (Reuters) – Russian and Ukrainian peace negotiators held a 90-minute video call on Monday and working groups will continue to meet throughout the day, a member of the Ukrainian delegation said.

“Today we are working the whole day,” Ukrainian delegate and lawmaker David Arakhamia was quoted as saying by Ukrainian media.

The Kremlin said on Monday that peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv had yet to yield any major breakthroughs and called on countries that can exert influence over Ukraine to use their clout to make Kyiv more constructive at the negotiations.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said significant progress in the talks still had to be made for there to be a basis for a possible meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it called a special operation to degrade its southern neighbour’s military capabilities and root out people it called dangerous nationalists.

Ukrainian forces have mounted stiff resistance and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces.