The US is working towards an Easter ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine despite another night of intense drone strikes that have killed civilians in Kyiv.

The White House is aiming to secure a truce by Easter Sunday, which falls on April 20 in both the Western and Orthodox church, officials told Bloomberg.

US officials will meet separately with Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Saudi Arabia this week for talks on a partial truce.

Ukrainian officials will meet US mediators on Monday in what is thought to be the first set of parallel negotiations since the early weeks of the war in 2022.

But the Kremlin on Sunday warned that progress on a deal would be unlikely as it was “only the beginning” of what is expected to be “difficult” negotiations.

The Saudi talks will discuss how to implement and monitor a 30-day truce on strikes against energy sites that was agreed upon by the Russian and Ukrainian presidents with Mr Trump last week.