Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday his country would not participate in the upcoming G20 summit in Indonesia if Russian President Vladimir Putin also attends.

"If the leader of the Russian Federation was to take part in it, Ukraine would not be participating," Zelensky told a press conference with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou in Kyiv. Putin is yet to say if he will attend.

Meanwhile, a Russian-installed official in southern Ukraine said Moscow will likely pull its troops from the west bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson and also urged civilians to leave, perhaps signalling a retreat that would be a blow to Russia's war.

There was silence from senior officials in Moscow. The Kyiv government and Western military analysts remained cautious, suggesting Russia could be setting a trap for advancing Ukrainian troops.

"Most likely our units, our soldiers, will leave for the left (eastern) bank," Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy civilian administrator of the Kherson region, said in an interview on Thursday with Solovyov Live, a pro-Kremlin online media outlet.

The area includes Kherson city, capital of the region of the same name, and the only major city Russia has captured intact since its invasion in February. It also includes one side of a dam across the Dnipro which controls the water supply to irrigate Crimea, the peninsula Russia has occupied since 2014.

Previously, Russia had denied its forces were planning to withdraw from the area.

In lengthy comments on Thursday night on a programme organised by RT television, Stremousov was somewhat more equivocal, saying "we have to take some very difficult decisions now. Whatever our strategy might be. And some people might be afraid to recognise things.

Popular

Policymakers to rethink single-day general election format

Authorities raises Halmahera volcano alert level to highest

Indosat showcasing Indonesia's Digital Literacy Initiative at the Global DTC Workshop