A third round of talks between Moscow and Kyiv has ended with Ukrainian negotiators noting small positive developments in the area of humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to flee Russia's unprovoked invasion of its neighbor.
Establishing humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to flee several cities has been a point of contention between the two sides, with earlier attempts failing, leaving thousands trapped inside cities as they're bombarded with Russian shelling and artillery.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said the talks produced “small positive moves related to continuation of the logistics of the humanitarian corridors.”
He said some changes will be made so that people “suffering of the Russian Federation’s aggression” can be provided with “more effective assistance.”
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
'They're Killing Children': Ukrainian Civilians Under Relentless Russian Attacks
But he also said there had been no results that would improve the situation in general, but he stressed that talks would continue.
Vladimir Medinsky, leader of the Russian delegation, also said talks would continue, but said little else positive after the third round.
"The discussion of political aspects continued, but it is going on not so easily, and it is too early to talk about anything positive,” Medinsky said. “Frankly speaking, our expectations from the talks did not come true, and we hope that next time we will be able to make a significant step forward.”
Live Briefing: Russia Invades Ukraine
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
Russia had earlier announced a limited cease-fire and the establishment of safe corridors to allow civilians to flee some besieged Ukrainian cities on March 7. But the evacuation routes led to Russia and its ally, Belarus, drawing withering criticism from Ukraine and others, including French President Emmanuel Macron.
The United Nations estimates that more than 1.7 million Ukrainians, mostly women, children, and the elderly, have fled the violence that erupted following Russia's invasion on February 24. More than 1 million of those refugees have crossed into neighboring Poland.
The previous cease-fires fell apart as the Russian military continued to pummel some Ukrainian cities with rockets, including one that Ukrainian officials called an immoral stunt and Macron characterized as an act of "hypocrisy" by Moscow.
The issue won’t be solved via “corridors which are being threatened right away (by Russia),” Macron said in an interview on French news broadcaster LCI.
Saying that “we are going to protect people by bringing them to Russia” is “hypocritical,” he added. “This is cynicism" that is “unbearable,” he said.
A spokesman for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian citizens should be allowed to leave their homes through Ukrainian territory, calling the Russian offer "completely immoral" while accusing Moscow of trying to "use people's suffering to create a television picture."
"These are citizens of Ukraine. They should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine," the spokesman said, accusing Russia of deliberately hampering previous evacuation attempts.
In Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, would meet on March 10 in the resort city of Antalya and that he would also attend the meeting.
WATCH: A Ukrainian artillery unit fired at Russian forces north and northwest of the capital, Kyiv, on March 6. Speaking with RFE/RL correspondent Maryan Kushnir, one Ukrainian soldier voiced his determination to repel Russia's invasion, saying: "We are defending our children."
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
'Truth Is On Our Side': Ukrainian Artillery Unit Targets Russian Forces
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed Lavrov's attendance, adding that the agreement for the three-way meeting was reached during a telephone conversation between Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "on the initiative of the Turkish leader."
The meeting, which has not yet been confirmed by Kuleba, would mark the first contact between the top Russian and Ukrainian diplomats since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Russian forces continued their offensive on March 7, opening fire on the city of Mykolayiv, 480 kilometers south of Kyiv. Rescuers said they were putting out fires in residential areas caused by rocket attacks.
Shelling also continued in the suburbs of Kyiv, including Irpin, which has been cut off from electricity, water, and heating for three days. Residents tried to flee Irpin, and Bucha, another Kyiv suburb, as they were pounded by air strikes.
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."
WATCH: Shells rained down on Ukrainian civilians as they fled from Russian troops advancing on the town of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv. Cameraman Andriy Dubchak captured the moment a shell landed on March 6, killing at least three people, including two children. (WARNING: Viewers may find the content of this video disturbing.)
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Russian Shelling Kills Ukrainian Civilians Fleeing Irpin
Zelenskiy on March 7 renewed his appeal to Western leaders to give Kyiv military aircraft. He has 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.
Kyiv has also appealed to the West to toughen sanctions.