Russia and Ukraine start ceasefire talks
STORY: Talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials began on the Belarusian border on Monday (February 28).
As Russia's diplomatic and economic isolation deepens four days after invading Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president's office said the talks' aim was an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces.
Moscow was cagier, with the Kremlin declining to comment on its aims. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation.”
The talks are being held on the border with strong Russian ally Belarus, which has become a launch pad for the troops invading Ukraine.
The Russian advance has gone more slowly than some expected.
Blasts were heard before dawn on Monday in the capital of Kyiv and in the major eastern city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian authorities said. But Russian ground forces' attempts to capture major urban centers had been repelled, they added.
Russian forces seized two small cities in southeastern Ukraine and the area around a nuclear power plant, Moscow's Interfax news agency said, but ran into stiff resistance elsewhere.
Russian President Vladimir Putin put Russia's nuclear deterrent on high alert on Sunday (February 27).
The Western-led response to the invasion has been sweeping.
Sanctions have effectively cut off Moscow's major financial institutions from Western markets, sending Russia's rouble down 30 % against the dollar on Monday. Countries also stepped up weapons supplies to Ukraine.
Putin called the West an "empire of lies" on Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked for fast-track EU membership.
The European Union is preparing to grant Ukrainians who flee the war the right to stay and work in the 27-nation bloc for up to three years, senior EU and French officials said.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than half a million people have fled from Ukraine to neighboring countries.
It was not clear whether any progress could be achieved in the talks.
At least 102 civilians in Ukraine have been killed since Thursday. But U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Monday the real figure is feared to be "considerably higher".
