Why Ukraine rejected talks with Russia in Belarus: Zelenskyy tells Putin to pick 'neutral city'

As Russia's military assault on Ukraine continued for the fourth day, Kyiv rejected Moscow's offer of talks in neighbouring Belarus.

Artillery and cruise missiles continued to pound Ukrainian settlements, and Russian troops entered Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv leading to street battles, as per reports.

While the Ukrainian government claimed to still have control over capital Kyiv, and residents hid in underground shelters to escape the shelling, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Belarus capital Minsk cannot be the venue for talks with invading Russia.

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Zelenskyy said that since Belarus was part of the military attack, a neutral venue needs to be chosen. "If there weren't aggressive actions from your territory, we could have talked in Minsk, in your capital. When you were neutral, we talked in Minsk, met many times. It's a right and honest way to talk as neighbours to each other. Other cities can be a platform for a meeting. Of course, we want peace, we want to meet and put an end to the war. Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku - we offered all of them to the Russian side and we will accept any other city in a country that hasn't been used for launching missiles. Only then the talks can be honest and put an end to the war," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has already sent a delegation to Belarus for talks, as per reports.