Biden prepared to meet Putin to end Russia-Ukraine war

US President Joe Biden has said he would be ready to meet Russia’s President Vladimir Putin “if in fact there is an interest in him deciding that he’s looking for a way to end the war”.

They were speaking as a senior Ukrainian official said that between 10,000 and 13,000 of its soldiers had been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion on 24 February.

Last month, the most senior US general, Mark Milley, said around 100,000 Russian and 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed or wounded since the start of the war.

He added that the number of civilians killed could be “significant”

He also suggested that up to 100,000 Russian soldiers had been killed since the invasion.

In a video address on Wednesday, EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said that 100,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed.

However, a spokesperson for the EU Commission later clarified that this was a mistake, and the figure referred to those both killed and wounded