MOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko called on Kyiv on Sunday to sit down and hold talks with Russia so that Ukraine does not lose its statehood, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

       Russia said on Sunday its delegation was ready to meet Ukrainian counterparts in the Belarusian city of Gomel, but Kyiv said Belarus was complicit in the Russian invasion and could not be regarded as a neutral intermediary.

       (Reporting by Alex Marrow; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)