Russia warns Ukraine: peace terms will only get worse

FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian service members of the 110th Colonel-General Marko Bezruchko Separate Mechanized Brigade prepare to fire an RM-70 Vampire multiple launch rocket system towards Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at a position near a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 30, 2024. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A top Russian official told Ukraine on Tuesday that the longer it waited to enter peace talks, the tougher the terms would be for its people.

Moscow has said talks must be based on Ukraine ceding land amounting to a fifth of its territory - much of it seized by Russian forces - and renouncing any prospect of joining the Western-led NATO alliance, terms that Ukraine has dismissed out of hand.