Russia claims advances in Kursk

Russia on Saturday said its troops had retaken three villages seized by Ukraine in its Kursk border region in a fresh setback for Kyiv as the prospect of peace talks draws closer.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday named a high-level delegation including ministers that will meet US negotiators in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday seeking to repair ties with President Donald Trump's administration.

The United States has said it wants to discuss a "framework for a peace agreement", but the Ukrainian leader was less specific.

"We hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps", he said, stressing that Ukraine is "fully committed to constructive dialogue".

The three-year-long war is now at a critical juncture for Kyiv after Trump suspended US military aid as well as access to satellite imagery and intelligence-sharing following his public falling-out with Zelensky last week.

Ukraine still controls some 400 square kilometres (150 square miles) in the Kursk region after launching a cross-border offensive last August and Zelensky sees this as a possible bargaining chip in peace talks.

But Ukraine's troops in Kursk have seen their position worsen in recent weeks with Russia's army encroaching.

Russia's defence ministry on Saturday announced the recapture of three more villages: Viktorovka, Nikolayevka and Staraya Sorochina.

According to DeepState, an online military tracker linked to the Ukrainian army, the Russian move followed a "breach" in the Ukrainian defence lines near the town of Sudzha, which is under Kyiv's control.