KYIV, Mar 04 (AFP): Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed no let-up in his invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, even as the warring sides met for ceasefire talks and Kyiv appealed for relief supplies to reach shattered cities.
After the fall of a first major Ukrainian city to Russian forces, Putin appeared in no mood to heed a global clamour for an end to hostilities as the war entered its second week.
"Russia intends to continue the uncompromising fight against militants of nationalist armed groups," Putin said, according to a Kremlin account of a call with French President Emmanuel Macron.
But Ukraine insisted that corridors for medical and other supplies were the bare minimum it expected, as negotiators arrived for the talks at an undisclosed location on the Belarus-Poland border.
A first round of talks on Monday yielded no breakthrough, and Kyiv says it will not accept any Russian "ultimatums".
Putin, however, said any attempts to slow the talks process would "only lead to additional demands on Kyiv in our negotiating position".
For his part, Macron said he feared that "worse is to come" in the conflict and condemned Putin's "lies", according to an aide.
The invasion, now in its eighth day, has created a refugee exodus and turned Russia into a global pariah in the worlds of finance, diplomacy and sports.
The UN has opened a probe into alleged war crimes, as the Russian military bombards cities in Ukraine with shells and missiles, forcing civilians to cower in basements.
"We will restore every house, every street, every city and we say to Russia: learn the word 'reparations'," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video statement.
"You will reimburse us for everything you did against our state, against every Ukrainian, in full," he said.
Ukraine in humanitarian
crisis, says Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is warning that Ukraine faces a "devastating humanitarian crisis" as casualty figures rise and hospitals struggle to cope.
In a statement from Geneva, the ICRC says access to fulfil its mandate under the Geneva Conventions must be granted now, and "not delayed until a potential future cease-fire".
The statement lays out the obligations of warring parties under the Geneva Conventions, including the prohibition of attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, access to health care, protection of health workers, protection of those wounded or taken prisoner, and access for the ICRC to those detained.
Football manager fighting
against invasion
Yuriy Vernydub, the Ukrainian manager of Moldovan football club Sheriff Tiraspol, says he is "not afraid" after joining the war against Russia's invasion.
Vernydub says when his son called on 24 February to say Russia had attacked Ukraine, he knew that he would return to Ukraine to fight.
His football club was in Portugal for a Europa League knockout game when he received the news.
Russia's last independent news
outlets stop broadcasting
A new law in Russia is set to punish "fake" information with jail sentences of up to 15 years.
On Thursday, one of Russia's last independent news outlets TV Rain stopped broadcasting indefinitely after coming under pressure for its coverage of the invasion.
The channel, also know as Dozhd, ended its final broadcast by showing staff walking off set.
Russia's telecommunications regulator accused the channel of "inciting extremism, abusing Russian citizens, causing mass disruption of public calm and safety, and encouraging protests".
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