Ukraine says a second round of ceasefire talks with Russia has not yielded the results it hoped for, but the two sides have discussed humanitarian corridors and agreed to speak again.
"To our great regret, we did not get the results we were counting on," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said.
Both sides said they wanted a possible ceasefire for evacuating civilians through humanitarian corridors.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had said prior to the meeting on Thursday that Moscow was ready for talks to end the fighting in Ukraine but would continue to press its effort to destroy Ukraine's military infrastructure.
The second round of face-to-face discussions took place on the Belarus-Poland border after initial talks on Monday ended without agreement.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said while his country was ready for talks to resume, Russia's demands had not changed and he would not accept any ultimatums.
Russian officials said Moscow's demands included Ukraine's recognition of Russia's hold on Crimea, independence for the separatist-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as "de-militarisation" and "de-Nazification".
Putin says fight against 'neo-Nazis' going to plan
Russian President Vladimir Putin described his troops as heroes, fighting against neo-Nazis during their invasion of Ukraine in a televised address on Thursday.
Mr Putin said the Russian military had offered safe corridors to civilians to allow them to leave areas of fighting in Ukraine but claimed Ukrainian nationalist groups were preventing them from leaving.
He further charged that Ukrainian forces were taking thousands of foreign citizens hostage and using civilians as human shields, taking up firing positions to provoke Russian retaliatory fire.
He provided no evidence for either allegation.
The Russian military said it had only struck military facilities and had not targeted residential areas, a claim that has been contradicted by the abundant evidence of massive casualties and damage to residential areas of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and other cities in Ukraine.
Mr Putin reaffirmed his claim that the Russian military was fighting "neo-Nazis", adding that some Ukrainians were also "fooled by nationalist propaganda".
He hailed the Russian military as heroes and ordered additional payments to families of the soldiers who were killed and servicemen who were wounded in action.
Meanwhile, Russia continued to shell Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv, while Moscow said it had taken control of the port city of Kherson.
Mr Putin said his "special military operation" in Ukraine was going to plan and that all tasks set for the operation were being successfully resolved and proceeding strictly in line with the timetable.
Those comments conflict with Western assessments which have characterised the invasion as disorganised and chaotic.
Deaths climb as fighting continues
At least 249 Ukranian civilians have been killed and another 553 injured during Russia's military invasion that began a week ago, according to the latest figures from the UN human rights office.
Most of the casualties were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and air strikes, the UN office said.
Russia's Defence Ministry on Wednesday said 498 Russian soldiers had died and another 1,597 had been wounded since the start of the invasion, the first time Moscow put a figure on its casualties.
Ukraine said almost 9,000 Russian soldiers had been killed so far but has not reported its own military losses. It said 2,000 Ukrainian civilians had so far died.
'What are you afraid of?'
Earlier at a media conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Mr Putin to be involved in peace talks, saying it was the only way to stop the war.
While making reference to the long table used by Mr Putin during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, the Ukrainian leader said: "I'm available. Sit with me, but not at 30 metres like you welcomed Macron and Scholtz and others."
Mr Zelenskyy said while prospects for another round of talks between Russian and Ukraine did not seem promising, "any words are more important than shots".
He said the world was too slow to offer support for Ukraine and prodded Western leaders to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine to deny access to the Russian warplanes.
The US and NATO allies have ruled out the move that would directly pit Western militaries against Russia's.
Mr Zelenskyy charged that if the West remained reluctant to declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine, it should at least provide Kyiv with warplanes.
Ukraine's capital 'under control'
Earlier, in a videotaped address, Mr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to keep up the resistance.
He vowed that the invaders would have "not one quiet moment" and described Russian soldiers as "confused children who have been used".
Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine and Russia could find a way out of the war if the Kremlin treated Ukraine on an equal footing and came to talks with a will to negotiate in good faith, during a televised interview on Thursday.
He also said he was willing to have an open conversation with Mr Putin.
In the capital Kyiv, thousands of residents have continued sheltering in metro stations, away from Russian missile and rocket attacks.
Kyiv's Mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said the situation in Ukraine's capital was "difficult but under control".
He said there were no casualties overnight and that night-time explosions were Ukrainian air defences striking down incoming Russian missiles.
More than 1 million people have fled the fighting, the UN said on Thursday, which amounts to more than 2 per cent of Ukraine's population being forced out of the country in seven days.
Paralympics ban Russian and Belarusian athletes
As the international community continue to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the effect has also been felt in the world sporting community.
Russian and Belarusian athletes have been barred from the Winter Paralympics in Beijing on the eve of the Games following threats of boycotts by other teams over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said.
"Following a specially convened meeting, the IPC governing board has decided to refuse the athlete entries from the RPC and NPC Belarus for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games," the IPC said in a statement.
The announcement comes less than 24 hours after the IPC had initially announced it would allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals with colours, flags and other national symbols removed.
ABC/Wires
