Russian invasion of Ukraine: Ceasefire talks begin

Russian and Ukrainian officials met on the Belarusian border to discuss a ceasefire yesterday while invading Russian forces met with determined resistance from Ukrainian troops and civilians on the fifth day of the conflict.

Russia faced deepening isolation and economic turmoil as Western nations, united in condemnation of its assault, hit it with an array of sanctions.

But Russian leader Vladimir Putin did not appear ready yet to think again about the invasion he unleashed on Russia's western neighbour last Thursday, having dismissed the West as an "empire of lies" and put his nuclear-armed units on high alert.

Meanwhile, Moscow and Kyiv announced yesterday that negotiators will return to their capital cities for consultations and have plans for fresh talks, after meeting for their first talks since the outbreak of war last week, reports AFP.

"The delegations are returning to their capitals for consultations and have discussed the possibility of meeting for a second round of negotiations soon," Ukrainian negotiator Mikhailo Podolyak said.

"We agreed to keep the negotiations going," the Russian delegation head, Vladimir Medinsky said.

In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest, Russian forces fired on residential areas yesterday, killing dozens and wounding hundreds of people, the Ukraine military claimed.

Fighting took place throughout the night around the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

Russian forces seized two small cities in southeastern Ukraine and the area around a nuclear power plant, the Interfax news agency said.

But they ran into stiff resistance elsewhere as the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two failed to make as much ground in its early days as some had expected.

The capital Kyiv was still held by the Ukrainian government, with President Volodymyr Zelensky, dressed in military gear, encouraged his people with a series of defiant messages.

Blasts were heard in the city before dawn and Ukrainians set up checkpoints and blocked streets with piles of sandbags and tyres as they waited to take on Russian soldiers, reports Reuters.

Ukraine and its allies yesterday called for a United Nations enquiry into possible war crimes committed by Russia during its military actions in Ukraine.

The Western-led response has been emphatic, with sanctions that effectively cut off Moscow's major financial institutions from Western markets. Russia's rouble currency plunged 30% against the dollar yesterday. Countries also stepped up weapons supplies to Ukraine.