Kremlin says Ukraine offensive resumed on Saturday after Friday pause

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian troops started advancing into Ukraine again on Saturday after President Vladimir Putin paused the offensive a day earlier in anticipation of talks with Kyiv that never happened, the Kremlin said.

Both Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke of possible talks on Friday but Ukraine said clashes with invading Russian troops continued on Friday night and on Saturday.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitriy Peskov said that after Putin’s order Russian troops only clashed with “groups of nationalists” — as opposed to regular Ukrainian forces. The Kyiv government said on Saturday Russian forces were attacking a number of Ukrainian cities and Russian saboteurs were being detained in the capital city.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday morning it had taken over the Ukrainian city of Melitopol. Peskov also told a briefing Russia had expected the sanctions imposed by the West in response to the invasion and was taking measures to minimise their impact on the economy.