The Kremlin said that Ukraine had not responded to many offers by Russia President Vladimir Putin to start direct peace negotiations, and that it was unclear whether it would join a three-day ceasefire he has announced for next month.

The ceasefire would begin May 8 and end on May 10, and the Kremlin said it expects Ukraine to adhere to it as well. Ukraine has been pushing for a full truce.

Russia's ejection of Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region ends the biggest incursion into Russian territory since World War Two but it also removes another barrier to a peace deal Moscow was reluctant to conclude with so many enemy troops on its soil.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that his country has regained control of Kursk, the border region where Ukraine launched a surprise offensive last year, though Ukraine’s army says fighting continues.

Nearly nine months after losing chunks of the Kursk region to a surprise Ukrainian incursion, Russia has announced that its troops have fully reclaimed the border territory.