Ukraine updates: Russia should be at peace talks — Zelenskyy

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has ordered top EU officials to boycott informal meetings in Hungary. It comes after she condemned a meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as "appeasement."Orban also visited Kyiv and Beijing and flew to Florida to meet with former US President Donald Trump, who could be elected president in a November vote where he is likely to face off against incumbent President Joe Biden, in what the Hungarian leader described as a "peace mission."

Hungary took over the EU's rotating presidency at the start of the month.

"In light of recent developments marking the start of the Hungarian Presidency, the President has decided that EU Commission will be represented at senior civil servant level only during informal meetings of the Council," Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer said in a post on the platform X, formerly Twitter.

Ukrainian border guard spokesperson Andriy Demchenko told the online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda that officers foiled an attempt by military-aged men to illegally leave the country.

Demchenko said border guards stopped a vehicle with four passengers late on Sunday in the town of Maryanivka in the southwestern Odesa region, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Ukraine's border with Moldova.

Two of the men in the group attempted to flee after the vehicle was stopped, and one was shot dead by a border guard after he ignored warning shots. He also reportedly attacked the border guard.

"In order to save his life, the border guard was forced to use his weapon," Demchenko was cited by Ukrainska Pravda as saying.

He said that paramedics confirmed the death of the fugitive as well as injuries sustained by the border guard.

Demchenko said that this was not the first case of an attack on border guards.

Ukrainska Pravda cited a separate law enforcement source as saying that the four men were "military deserters."

Ukraine declared martial law on February 24, 2022, hours after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its western neighbor.

Under martial law, Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 can only leave the country in exceptional circumstances.

A man threw a grenade at a military draft office in the town of Busk in Ukraine's western Lviv region, police said on Monday.

Police said the grenade caused an explosion that damaged the facade of the building and its windows, but there were no injuries or deaths.

"Law enforcement officers are taking measures to identify and detain the culprit," police said in a statement.

Ukraine is currently stepping up its effort to draft male citizens into the military over 28 months since the start of Russia's invasion.

In recent months, Ukrainian media have reported multiple attacks on draft offices and dozens of military-aged men have been caught attempting to illegally flee the country.

Russia has also had to contend with dozens of similar incidents.

Ukraine's military told the Reuters news agency that maintaining public trust was an "important component of the activities of the [armed forces], without which it will be extremely difficult to achieve victory over the enemy."

A relative majority of Ukrainians are in favor of starting peace negotiations with Russia, according to a survey published by the Ukrainian weekly newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnia.

Not included in the survey were people who reside on the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, or other areas of the east and south of the country under Russian control.

The survey found that 43.9% of Ukrainians in Kyiv-controlled areas considered that "the time has come for the start of official peace talks between Ukraine and Russia," compared with 35% who were against launching negotiations and 21% who were undecided.

Southern regions of Ukraine showed the largest support for starting peace talks, at around 60%, whereas nearly half of those residing in central regions were in favor of negotiations.

In the west of the country — seen as a stronghold of the Ukrainian-speaking population that has traditionally voted for Ukrainian nationalist and pro-Western parties — only 35% of the population was in favor of starting peace talks with Moscow.

The lowest support for negotiations was registered in Ukraine's eastern regions, where 34% were in favor of talks.

Ukrainian officials say the front line in the eastern region of Donetsk has seen some of the fiercest fighting in the war.

A large majority of the people surveyed rejected the demands made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in order for the war to end.

In June, Putin said Russia would agree to a cease-fire and enter peace talks if Ukraine were to withdraw its troops from four regions in the south and east that Moscow claims to have annexed. Of the four regions, only Luhansk is largely controlled by Russian forces.

Almost 83% of the people surveyed opposed a Ukrainian withdrawal from regions claimed by Russia.

Russia's president also demanded that Kyiv relinquish any ambitions of joining the NATO military alliance. Nearly 59% of the population was against enshrining military nonalignment in Ukraine's constitution, according to the survey.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his government aims to ready a peace plan by November for a second international summit on ending the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine held a first summit in Switzerland last month that was attended by representatives of 92 countries, but not Russia.

Zelenskyy said a Russian delegation could attend a potential second summit.

"I think that representatives of Russia should be at the second summit," he said.

Ukraine's president made the remarks after returning from a visit to Washington for a NATO summit last week.

Russia had previously criticized the summit held in Switzerland, saying any discussions not involving Moscow are "absurd."

During his Monday press conference, Zelenskyy said Ukraine could receive some F-16 fighter jets from allies this summer and more before the end of the year.

"There will not be enough," Zelenskyy said, referring to initial jet deliveries. "They will certainly strengthen us, but will there be enough of them to fight at a level with the Russian air force? I think they will not be enough. We are anticipating a larger quantity."

Ukraine has said it needs at least 128 F-16 jets.

He also said that while "everything is going according to plan" after Ukraine stepped up mobilization to bolster its armed forces, but there was a need to expand training facilities to support the intake.

sdi/ab (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)