LVIV, Mar 28 (Agencies): Ukraine and Russia were preparing on Monday for the first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks, with Kyiv insisting it would make no concessions on Ukraine's territorial integrity as battlefield momentum has shifted in its favour.
Ukrainian officials played down the chances of a major breakthrough at the talks, due to be held in Istanbul after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Russia's Vladimir Putin on Sunday.
But the fact that they were taking place in person at all - for the first time since an acrimonious meeting between foreign ministers on March 10 - was a sign of shifts behind the scenes as Russia's invasion has become bogged down.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Mariupol has said the besieged port city is on the verge of catastrophe and must be completely evacuated
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine is prepared to discuss adopting a neutral status as part of a peace deal.
Another report adds: The killing in action of several Russian generals and senior military figures in Ukraine has revealed the extent of the heavy losses and logistical problems encountered by Moscow's invading army.
According to Kyiv, seven Russian generals have been killed since the invasion was launched on February 24, in what Western officials say would be an unusually high casualty rate among military top brass.
It is not possible to independently verify this figure and official Russian sources have so far confirmed only the death of one general and another senior naval commander.
According to the Ukraine defence ministry on Friday, the seventh Russian general to lose his life was Lieutenant General Yakov Rezantsev who was killed in fighting in Chornobaivka outside the southern city of Kherson.
On the ground, there was no sign of respite for civilians in besieged cities, especially the devastated port of Mariupol, whose mayor said 160,000 people were still trapped inside, and he accused Russia of making it impossible to evacuate them.
A senior Turkish official said the Istanbul talks would start on Monday, but the Kremlin later said they were not likely to begin till Tuesday, adding it was important they take place face to face despite scant progress in negotiations so far.
Mykhailo Podolyak, head of the Ukrainian delegation, told Reuters the start time depended on when the delegations could get there.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly suggested in recent weeks that they believe Russia could now be more willing to compromise, as any hope Moscow may have held of imposing a new government on Kyiv slipped away in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance and heavy Russian losses.
Russia's military signalled last week it was shifting focus to concentrate on expanding territory held by separatists in eastern Ukraine, a month after having committed the bulk of its huge invasion force to a failed assault on Kyiv.
