Ukraine War: Kyiv demands ceasefire before talks, Russia 'wants an agreement'

Ukrianian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday demanded ceasefire before talks with Russia.

Russia has said it wants to reach an agreement with Ukraine, a negotiator said today, according to a report by news agency AFP. The two sides are set to meet in Belarus amid the invasion.

The Ukrainian military said on Monday that Russian troops had slowed down "the pace of the offensive" as Moscow's assault against Ukraine went into its fifth day.

Ukraine said it had agreed to send a delegation to meet Russian representatives on the border with Belarus, which has allowed Russian troops passage to attack Ukraine.

"We will not capitulate, we will not give up a single inch of our territory," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said ahead of the first public contact between the two sides since war erupted.

Russia has faced global criticism for its invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has raised nuclear threat as it continued with its offensive against Kyiv.

Fighting has claimed dozens of civilian lives, forced hundreds and thousands of Ukrainians to flee west. According to the EU, the war is likely to displace up to seven million people.