Ukraine news latest: Putin blames WEST for war as Kremlin rejects ‘peace formula’ amid brutal Russian shelling

VLADIMIR Putin has rejected further calls for peace, as the dictator clings on to Russia’s stolen land in Ukraine. This week, Ukraine’s President Zelensky shared a detailed 10-point plan to end the war in Ukraine, with demands such as nuclear and food safety, as well as the return of all Ukrainian territory. But a Kremlin spokesman says Putin has categorically dismissed these calls for peace, claiming Ukraine must accept Russia’s ownership over the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, saying: “Plans that do not take these realities into account cannot be peaceful.” Meanwhile, hero Ukraine leader Zelensky said “only a few civilians” remain in the city of Bakhmut, which had been home to 70,000 people ahead of the war with Russia. “There is no place that is not covered with blood. There is no hour when the terrible roar of artillery does not sound,” he said on Wednesday. Read our Ukraine-Russia live blog below for the latest news…