Lukashenko says Ukraine-Russia fighting at stalemate, calls for talks

“There are many problems on both sides and in general the situation is a serious stalemate: Neither side can do anything… They are standing there, holding out to the death. People are dying,” Mr Lukashenko said.

The US said Russian forces had resumed their advance this week near the ruined Donetsk city of Avdiivka, but the vast frontline in Ukraine has barely budged despite Kiev's months-long counter-offensive.

Mr Lukashenko said Ukraine's demand for Russia to leave its territory needed to be resolved at the negotiating table "so that no one dies".

“We need to sit down at the negotiating table and come to an agreement,” Mr Lukashenko said in a question-and-answer video posted on the website of Belarusian state news agency BelTA.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated at a meeting of more than 60 national security advisers on Saturday that his 10-point peace plan, which includes a call for restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, is the only way to end the fighting.

Mai Van (according to Reuters, CNA)