Damaged houses after conflicts in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Oleksiy Danilov also claimed a pressure campaign is underway involving several other countries to kick-start peace talks.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday he believes that at this stage, a peace negotiation is not possible because both Russia and Ukraine are convinced that they can win.

Asked about mediation efforts by China and Brazil, Guterres said that achieving peace cannot happen at the moment, though he hoped that in the future it will.