Austria's Foreign Minister revealed that Donald Trump allegedly offered Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine to Vladimir Putin as part of a peace deal, but Putin rejected it, choosing to continue the war.

"China has an influence on Russia, like the European Union has an influence on Ukraine," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Kyiv and Moscow will hold a new round of peace talks — the first in seven weeks — on Wednesday in Turkey, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Ukraine on Wednesday proposed direct talks within weeks between its President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's Vladimir Putin, but Moscow tempered prospects for progress at a fresh round of talks in Istanbul on Wednesday.

By Dmitry Antonov and Mark Trevelyan MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian negotiators flew to Turkey to hold peace talks with Ukraine on Wednesday, the Kremlin said, before what will be the first direct discussions between the warring sides in more than seven weeks.

Both oil benchmarks rose, extending earlier gains, after Trump said he would shorten the 50-day deadline for Russia to reach a truce with Ukraine.