Kyiv – Russia’s foreign minister warned Ukraine meet Moscow's demands or its army will. The remarks came just a day after President Vladimir Putin said he was open to negotiations over Ukraine.

"The point is simple: Fulfil them for your own good. Otherwise, the issue will be decided by the Russian army." state news agency TASS quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying late on Monday

"Our proposals for the demilitarization and denazification of the territories controlled by the regime, the elimination of threats to Russia's security emanating from there, including our new lands, are well known to the enemy."

Kyiv says it will fight until Russia withdraws.

Ukraine and the West say Putin's invasion was merely an imperialist land grab. The United States and its allies have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia for its invasion and sent billions of dollars in assistance to the Ukrainian government.

"It is no secret to anyone that the strategic goal of the United States and its NATO allies is to defeat Russia on the battlefield as a mechanism for significantly weakening or even destroying our country," Lavrov further told TASS referring to the additional military allowance including a transfer of the Patriot Air Defense System by the US.

He reiterated that Russia and the United States cannot maintain normal connection, blaming the administration of the U.S. President Joe Biden.

On the warfront
While Moscow had planned a swift operation to take over its neighbour, the war is now in its 11th month, marked by many embarrassing Russian battlefield setbacks.

Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian forces have repelled Russian attacks in the areas of two settlements in the Luhansk region and six in the Donetsk region, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Tuesday.

In his nightly video message on Monday, Zelenskiy called the situation along the frontline in Donbas "difficult and painful".

Zelenskiy said as a result of attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure nearly nine million people were without power. That figure amounts to about a quarter of Ukraine's population.

Moscow on Monday said it had shot down a drone believed to be Ukrainian, causing it to crash at the Engels air base, where three service members were killed. Ukraine did not comment, under its usual policy on incidents inside Russia.
-Reuters