Russia and Ukraine are ready for more peace talks, but neither side looks ready to budge

Russia and Ukraine say they're ready for another round of peace talks, but neither side appears willing to accede to the other's demands, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Per AP, "Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that a delegation would be ready later in the day to meet Ukrainian officials" and signaled that his country was prepared to weather the "unprecedented" sanctions being imposed on Russia.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country is also ready to negotiate but is unwilling to accept "Russian ultimatums" which are "the same as those publicly voiced by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin at the state of the war," The Kyiv Independent reported.

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In the months leading up to Russia's invasion, Putin attempted unsuccessfully to extract from NATO, Ukraine, or both a promise that Ukraine would not join NATO.

The two countries previously held talks on the border between Ukraine and Putin-allied Belarus on Monday. According to Al Jazeera, they agreed to hold another meeting on the border between Poland and Belarus but were unable to reach a consensus on much else.

After advancing more slowly than expected, the Russian invasion progressed on Tuesday and Wednesday with the capture of the port city of Kherson and the encirclement of Kharkiv and Mariupol, the United Kingdom's Defense Ministry and Al Jazeera reported.