Putin says Ukraine peace talks 'at dead end,' vows to pursue war

[MOSCOW] President Vladimir Putin said peace talks with Ukraine are "at a dead end," vowing to continue Russia's invasion.

There's been no word of progress for days in video-link peace talks after Ukraine accused Russian troops of carrying out war crimes including killing unarmed civilians in Bucha and other towns in the north. Western leaders have called for international investigations of the deaths.

In his first public comments on the alleged atrocities, Putin first compared them to US attacks on cities like Raqqa in Syria and then called the Bucha claims "fake."

The more than seven-week offensive is going "according to plan," Putin said at a joint press conference at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Negotiations continued between the two sides by video link after the last in-person meeting in Istanbul on Mar 29. There's been no public confirmation of talks this week. Putin accused Ukraine of backing off earlier concessions, but Kyiv's public position has not changed and it blames Russia for the lack of progress.

Russia's economy has withstood the West's sanctions "blitzkreig," Putin said, citing the recovery of the rouble's exchange rate. But he conceded that logistics and payment systems remain a weakness and the long-term impact of western limits could be more painful. The government is expecting an economic contraction of as much as 10 per cent this year, the worst in more than two decades.

The Russian president said he hoped that "good sense" will ultimately prevail in the West, leading to the easing of sanctions. He also said that while rising inflation related to the crisis "inevitably" will cause political problems for Western leaders, Russian public support for his policy remains strong. BLOOMBERG