VILNIUS: Ukraine has been invited to a Nato summit later in June, President Volodymyr Zelensky and the alliance said, after earlier warning it would be a `victory` for Russia if it was not there.

The heads of Nato states will gather in The Hague, Netherlands, from June 24-26, with Russia`s invasion of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump`s calls for alliance members to ramp up defence spending set to dominate the agenda.

`We were invited to the Nato summit. Ithink this is important,` Zelensky said Monday after he held a meeting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte in Vilnius.

Kyiv is seeking to shore up its support from Europe because of uncertainties over vital military aid under Trump.

A Nato official confirmed that `that Ukraine will be with us in The Hague`. `We will publish the Nato Summit agenda in due course,` the official said.

Last week Zelensky had said that `if Ukraine is not present at the Nato summit, it will be a victory for Putin, but not over Ukraine, but over Nato.` Zelensky wants Nato to offer security guarantees to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire or peace dealwith Russia something Moscow has called`unacceptable.` Meanwhile Ukraine`s SBU security service claimed it had hit a pillar of the Crimean bridge linking the annexed peninsula to Russia with an underwater explosive device. The extent of the damage was unclear following a temporary closure to the bridge afterthe attack.

Ceasefire talks Russia on Tuesday said it was wrong to expect a quick breakthrough in Ukraine talks, a day after Moscow rejected Kyiv`s call for an unconditional ceasefire at negotiationsin Istanbul.

The sides agreed on a large-scale swap of captured soldiers and exchanged their roadmaps to peace, or so-called `memoran-dums`, at the discussions, which lasted under two hours.

More than three years into Russia`s offensive which has killed tens of thousands on both sides and forced millions from their homes in eastern Ukraine the two sides appear as irreconcilable as ever. `The settlement issue is extremely complex and involves a large number of nuances, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

`It would be wrong to expect immediate solutions and breakthroughs,` he added.

Moscow demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of four eastern and southern regions that Moscow claims to have annexed as a precondition to pausing its offensive,according to the document handed to the Ukrainians that was published by Russian state media.

Kyiv had pressed for a full and unconditional ceasefire. Russia instead offered a partial truce of two to three days in some areas of the frontline, its top negotiator said after the talks.

Peskov also dismissed the idea of a summit between the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

`In the near future, it is unlikely,` Peskov told reporters when asked about the chances of the leaders meeting, adding that such a summit could only happen after Russian and Ukrainian negotiators reach an `agreement`.-AFP