The Russian delegation in the peace talks with Ukraine "will not give up any negotiating points", reported the RIA news agency of Russian negotiator Leonid Slutsky, reports Reuters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country cannot stop the war against Russia on its own and that nations must act now before it is "too late".
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Greenpeace activists and volunteers form a peace sign in solidarity with Ukraine at Heroes' Square in Budapest.
The destruction of a children's hospital in Mariupol as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived on Wednesday after a flight to Antalya, according to a Reuters witness, ahead of the planned talks on Thursday with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleb.
The meeting would be the first between the countries' top diplomats since Russia invaded Ukraine two weeks ago.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Nancy Pelosi and thanked for the American help in countering the aggression.
On Twitter, Zelensky said that further steps to help Ukraine were discussed during the conversation.
Ukraine's top security official Alexei Danilov said 67 children had been killed since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, and called on Kiev's allies to impose a no-fly zone over the country.
President Vladimir Zelensky said that he spoke with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, about the pressure on Russia to protect civilians and the increase in sanctions against Russia.
In today's conversation with the German chancellor, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukrainian "nationalists" for obstructing the evacuation of civilians from besieged Ukrainian cities.
The Kremlin announced that Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine with Olaf Scholz, with special emphasis on humanitarian aspects.
Putin explained to Scholz the Russian efforts to organize humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave the combat areas and the attempts of militants from what he called nationalist units to break the safe retreat.
Ukrainian officials said continued Russian shelling had disrupted efforts to evacuate civilians from the fighting area.
Britain is not seeking to provide a no-fly zone over humanitarian corridors in Ukraine and instead wants to help it defend against a Russian invasion, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said, Reuters reports.
"The reality is that establishing a no-fly zone would lead to a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia. And that's not what we're looking at," Truss said at a press conference in Washington, when asked if it could be imposed through humanitarian corridor.
Russia's Defense Ministry has accused Ukrainian forces of attacking power lines and a substation feeding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in what it said was a "dangerous provocation," Russian news agency Interfax reported, Reuters reported.
The difficult security situation in the eastern regions of Ukraine is preventing the state gas pipeline operator from assessing the damage to the networks and carrying out repairs, said the head of the operator, Serhiy Makogon.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Russia's proposals to create humanitarian corridors from Ukraine to Russia were "absurd" as he urged Russia to allow civilians from Ukraine to leave safely.
"It is insulting to suggest that the Ukrainian people should seek refuge from the very government that has shown such disregard for their lives," Blinken told reporters after a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in Washington, according to Reuters.
At least 1.170 civilians have been killed in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol under siege since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian state news agency said, citing information from the deputy mayor of Mariupol, Reuters reports.
"At least 1.170 people were killed and 47 were buried in a mass grave today," Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov said. "People are without water, heat, electricity, gas, residents are melting snow for drinking"
The Russian Defense Ministry said that nearly 180.000 people have been evacuated from Ukraine to Russia since the start of the conflict on February 24, Russian news agency Interfax reported, Reuters reports.
The ministry added that the operation to open humanitarian corridors for the removal of Ukrainian civilians and foreigners from war-affected zones "did not bring the desired results, thanks to Kiev" and that the situation facing civilians in the city of Mariupol has reached "catastrophic proportions"...
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky posted on his Twitter account a video of the maternity hospital in Mariupol.
"Mariupol. A direct strike by Russian troops on a maternity hospital. People, children are under the rubble. Atrocities! How much longer will the world be complicit in ignoring terror? Close the sky now! Stop the killings! You have power, but you seem to be losing your humanity," Zelensky wrote.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine also posted a tweet showing the maternity ward.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, announced that the entire electricity supply line of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which is now under the control of the Russian army, was damaged.
"Chernobyl is without electricity. I call on the entire international community to immediately call on Russia to cease fire and allow the repair crews to restore the supply of electricity as soon as possible", according to the statement of the Ukrainian embassy in Montenegro.
"Reserve diesel generators will power the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl and its facilities for 48 hours. Then the cooling system of the spent nuclear fuel storage will be turned off, which will endanger the leakage of radiation. Russia's barbaric war threatens the whole of Europe. Putin must stop it immediately," he said. Kuleba.
The Ukrainian state-owned company Energoatom, which manages all power plants in that country, has warned of the release of radioactive substances from the Chernobyl power plant, as it cannot cool spent nuclear fuel after its power supply was cut off.
Work on repairing the connection and restoring electricity to the power plant, which was occupied by Russian troops, was not possible because the fighting was ongoing, according to the statement, Reuters reports.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that there is no critical impact on safety due to the blackout at the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, reports Beta.
The Vienna-based UN agency said that Ukraine had informed it about the blackout and that such a development contradicted "a key security pillar for ensuring the uninterrupted supply of electricity."
However, the IAEA added that in that case "it does not see a critical impact on security".
The agency stated that there could be "effective heat removal without the need for electricity" from spent nuclear fuel at the plant.
Russia's ruling United Russia party announced that a government commission had approved the first step toward nationalizing the assets of foreign companies leaving the country, Reuters reports.
United Russia added in a statement on Telegram that the committee on legislative activities supported a draft law that allows companies with more than 25 percent ownership by foreigners from "enemy countries" to be placed under foreign administration to prevent bankruptcy and save jobs.
United Russia said that under the proposed bill, companies that have announced they are leaving Russia could refuse to enter administration if they continue their activities or sell their shares within five days, provided that their jobs and employees remain.
Otherwise, the court would appoint a temporary administration for three months, after which the shares of the new organization would be put up for auction, and the old ones would be liquidated, it added.
A children's hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was destroyed by Russian airstrikes, the city council said in an online post.
"The Russian occupation forces dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal," the statement said, adding that the number of victims is not yet known.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Russia has denied targeting civilians in its attack on Ukraine.
European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc has bought enough liquefied natural gas that it should be independent of Russian imports by the end of winter, reports Reuters.
Von der Leyen also told Germany's ARD television that sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine are designed to cause maximum impact on Moscow while causing the least possible damage to Western economies.
The United Nations World Food Program aims to help more than three million Ukrainians with food donations, Director General David Beasley said.
Beasley spoke during a press conference in Warsaw with Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau about efforts to support refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine to Poland, Reuters reports.
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