'Not trying to overthrow Ukraine's govt': Russia says it prefers talks

Russia on Wednesday said that it prefers to achieve its goal of ensuring Ukraine's neutral status through talks and that it's aims do not include overthrowing the Kyiv government.

A Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said that the country plans to achieve more significant progress in the next round of talks with Ukraine, adding that Russia's military operation was going strictly in line with its plan.

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine have agreed to open more humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from bombarded cities. The two countries have agreed on a 12-hour ceasefire.

All the corridors lead to sites elsewhere in Ukraine that are currently held by the Ukrainian government; previous Russian proposals to establish evacuation routes into Russia or ally Belarus were widely criticised.

More than 2 million people have now fled Ukraine, according to the United Nations.

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