Negotiators Scheduled To Hold Third Round Of Talks As Russian Forces Increase Shelling In Ukraine

A third round of negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow was scheduled to take place on March 7 after an attempt to evacuate civilians from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol failed on March 6.

Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia announced the talks on Facebook. Ukrainian and Russian delegations have met twice in Belarus since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, but cease-fires agreed during those talks to allow civilians to flee have failed to hold.

Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian officials accused each other of failing to establish the humanitarian corridor out of Mariupol, a Black Sea city that tens of thousands of people want to flee.

Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said planned evacuations along designated humanitarian corridors on March 6 were halted because of continued Russian shelling.

The Interfax news agency cited an official of the Donetsk separatist administration who accused the Ukrainian forces of failing to observe the cease-fire.

Britain said that Moscow probably blamed Ukraine to deflect accusations against it for civilian casualties in Mariupol.

"Russia has accused Ukraine of breaking the cease-fire agreement," said a British Ministry of Defense intelligence update on Twitter. "This is probably an additional attempt to diminish responsibility for civilian casualties caused by continued Russian strikes on the city."

Despite ample, concrete evidence of Russian attacks on civilian areas documented by reporters, including RFE/RL correspondents on the ground, Moscow denies targeting civilian areas, calling its campaign a "special military operation."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States has seen very credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians, adding that Washington was documenting them.

Blinken, who is on a visit to Eastern Europe, also said the United States and its allies are having a “very active discussion” about banning the import of Russian oil.

Kyiv on March 6 renewed its appeal to the West to toughen sanctions and again requested more weapons, including a plea for Russian-made planes.

Speaking in Moldova, Blinken said Washington was considering how it could resupply aircraft to Poland, if Warsaw decided to send its Russian-made warplanes to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on March 6 also pressed his demand for foreign countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Zelenskiy said in a video address that “the world is strong enough to close our skies."

NATO has ruled out such a closure over fears that a direct confrontation with Russia could spark a world war.

Zelenskiy also described some of the destruction from Russian bombardments. He said Russian rockets had “completely destroyed” the civilian airport in Vinnytsya in central Ukraine on March 6.

Zelenskiy said that Russian rockets had "completely destroyed" the civilian airport in Vinnytsya in central Ukraine on March 6.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter that eight Russian cruise missiles had hit Vinnytsya.

"Putin continues his cowardly & barbaric missile strikes, air bombardment of civilians," Kuleba said as he reiterated Ukraine’s demands for a no-fly zone and air and missile defense and combat aircraft.

Ukraine's military said on March 6 that it was fighting "fierce battles" with Russian forces on the edge of the southern city of Mykolayiv -- which controls the road to the key Black Sea city of Odesa in the west.

Ukrainian officials said that Russian forces launched hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks across the country, including dropping powerful bombs on residential areas of Chernihiv, a city north of the capital of Kyiv.

Kuleba tweeted a photo of what he said was a 500-kilogram bomb that didn’t explode when it fell on Chernihiv, saying many others did, killing innocent men, women, and children.

Residents tried to flee the towns of Bucha and Irpin as they were pounded by air strikes.

Russian Shelling Kills Ukrainian Civilians Fleeing Irpin

Soldiers in Kyiv bolstered defenses by digging trenches, blocking roads, and liaising with civil-defense units.

British military intelligence compared Russia’s tactics in Ukraine to those Moscow used in Chechnya and Syria, where cities were bombarded and heavily damaged after Russian forces faced unexpected resistance from their defenders.

"This is likely to represent an effort to break Ukrainian morale," Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on March 6. "Russia has used similar tactics in Chechnya in 1999 and Syria in 2016, employing both air- and ground-based munitions."

SEE ALSO: Putin May Use Chechen War Playbook In Ukraine, Says Russian Human Rights Activist

Putin held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minster Naftali Bennett and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in addition to a call with French President Emmanuel Macron.

In the call with Erdogan, Putin said the invasion could be halted only "only if Kyiv ceases hostilities," according to a Kremlin statement on the phone call.

He said Ukraine had to fulfill "the well-known demands of Russia," which include what he calls the "demilitarization" of Ukraine and a guarantee that it will not be able to join NATO.

Putin's call with Bennett came a day after he met for three hours with Putin at the Kremlin.

Bennett’s office said the trip to Moscow was made "in coordination and with the blessing" of Washington. Bennett also spoke to Zelenskiy after his meeting with Putin.

The diplomatic moves came as the UN human rights office said at least 364 civilians have been confirmed killed since the invasion began on February 24, and Ukrainian refugees continued to pour into neighboring countries, including Poland, Romania, and Moldova.

The number of people who have left since fighting began has now reached 1.5 million, according to the UN refugee agency.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, the BBC, and dpa