Still have hope for negotiations to end Ukraine conflict: Putin to UN chief | Top developments

While talking to UN Chief Antonio Guterres about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he still has hope for negotiations to end the conflict.

In the latest developments of the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin tells the visiting UN chief Antonio Guterres that he still has hope for negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine.

"Despite the fact that the military operation is ongoing, we still hope that we will be able to reach agreements on the diplomatic track. We are negotiating, we do not reject (talks)," Putin tells Guterres.

Guterres, who is seeking to mediate in the conflict, is on his first visit to Moscow since the war began and is then to travel to Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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Defence ministers of 40 countries hold talks at a US airbase in Germany on boosting arms supplies to Ukraine.

The United States and its allies will meet once a month to discuss Ukraine's defence needs, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says afterwards.

The United States has been pushing its allies to provide Ukraine with heavy weapons.