Ukraine and Russia agree to talks without preconditions: President Zelenskiy

Ukrainian and Russian officials will meet for talks at a venue on the Belarusian border with Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office said on Sunday.

The talks, the first since Russia unleashed a full scale invasion of Ukraine last week, would be held without preconditions and are the result of a phone call between Zelenskiy and the Belarusian president, Zelenskiy said.

"We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's foreign minister said that Russia dropped its preconditions for talks after suffering military setbacks, adding that Ukraine would attend the talks to listen to what Russia had to say.

Dmytro Kuleba also told a briefing that Russian President Vladimir Putin's move to put nuclear forces on high alert was aimed to put pressure on Ukraine during the negotiations.