As US-led attempts to negotiate an agreement to end the almost four-year conflict in Ukraine increase, the Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia had extended its invitation for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to visit Moscow for peace negotiations.

Hours after declining to comment on reports that Moscow and Kyiv have agreed to cease attacking each other's energy infrastructure, the Kremlin made its announcement as the two nations carried out their most recent exchange of war dead.
Russia has already offered to host Zelenskyy for peace negotiations in Moscow. Last year, the president of Ukraine declined a similar invitation, claiming he was unable to visit the capital of a country that was launching missiles at his country on a daily basis.

Zelenskyy received an invitation from Russia just days after US diplomats joined officials from the two warring nations in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, for the first-ever trilateral negotiations to settle the conflict.
The two-day negotiations this weekend have given efforts to reach a peace agreement some fresh impetus, although the negotiating positions of Russia and Ukraine continue to diverge.
The destiny of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility, the possible participation of international peacekeepers or monitors in post-war Ukraine, and who gets what land in any arrangement are still major points of contention.
About 20% of the Donetsk region is beyond the Russian army's control, and Russia wants Ukrainian soldiers to leave.Kyiv has stated that it does not want to give Moscow territory that Russia has not gained on the battlefield and that might eventually be used by Russian forces to advance farther into Ukraine.

Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, questioned the feasibility of any security guarantees that Washington would be able to offer Ukraine as part of an agreement, stating that he doubted they could bring about a lasting peace if they were intended to maintain the current political leadership in Ukraine.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiating delegations are set to hold further talks in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. US President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday that "very good things" were going in the negotiations.