Kremlin hopes talks with Ukraine will start imminently, won’t comment on their aim

MOSCOW – The Kremlin on Monday said it hoped talks with the Ukrainian side would start imminently, but declined to comment on Moscow’s aim in negotiations, as Russian invasion forces seized two small cities in southeastern Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia regretted that talks had not started a day earlier. Russian forces ran into stiff resistance elsewhere in Ukraine as Moscow’s diplomatic and economic isolation deepened.

(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow)