Trump doubles down on Putin criticism - as Russia offers Ukraine date for peace talks

Donald Trump has doubled down on his criticism of Vladimir Putin – adding he will know soon if the Russian leader is just "tapping" him along.

The US president told reporters at the White House that he believed his counterpart in Moscow may be intentionally delaying ceasefire talks, while he also expressed disappointment at heavy Russian bombing over the weekend. While Mr Trump has so far stopped short of imposing sanctions – to avoid, he says, "screwing up" negotiations – he warned his stance could change.

Ukraine Q&A: Are we any closer to war ending? The president said: "We're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along or not, and if he is, we'll respond a little differently," adding that he "can't tell you" if Mr Putin wanted peace. His comments in the Oval Office came minutes after Russia's foreign minister announced that the Kremlin had offered Ukraine a second round of talks on 2 June in Istanbul.

Kyiv did not immediately respond to the proposal, which Sergei Lavrov said would see Moscow hand their proposals for a potential peace deal directly to Ukraine. "We hope that all those who are sincerely, and not just in words, interested in the success of the peace process will support holding a new round of direct Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul," Mr Lavrov added.

Later on Wednesday, Ukraine's defence minister Rustem Umerov said his government was "not against" further meetings, but called for Russia to deliver its memorandum to Kyiv beforehand. Meanwhile, Mr Lavrov also hit out at Germany for agreeing to finance the production of long-range missiles in Ukraine, accusing Berlin of showing it is "already a participant in the war".

However, German leader Friedrich Merz declined to say that his country would hand over the Taurus missiles that Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy – who was in Berlin on Wednesday – has long wanted. Ukraine's need for ammunition has become all the more urgent after Russia launched some of the largest aerial assaults of the war so far over the weekend.

Read more:Would 'smart' missiles allow Ukraine to hit key bridge?Lavrov accuses West of secrecy over strikes Russia said it had downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions overnight, while Ukraine said it had struck several weapon production sites. Kyiv, in turn, said Moscow had launched 88 drones and five ballistic missiles since Tuesday..