INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
An air strike on a residential building in Ukraine's capital killed at least one person Monday, the country's emergency service said, as
Moscow maintained its devastating assault ahead of a fresh round of talks.The strike, which injured at least a dozen people, came as Russian
troops edged closer to the city and kept up their siege of the southern port city of Mariupol, where officials said nearly 2,200 people have
been killed."As of 7:40 a.m
(05:40 GMT) the body of one person was found dead in a nine-story apartment building" in the capital's Obolon district, the emergency
service said in a statement, revising an earlier toll.Ukrainian and Russian representatives were set to meet via videoconference Monday, a
Ukrainian presidential adviser and a Kremlin spokesman both said before the latest strike.According to Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia,
the talks would begin at 08:20 GMT."And our goal is that in this struggle, in this difficult negotiating work, Ukraine will get the
for peace and for security," President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday, adding that both sides speak every day.He said the aim was "to do
everything to ensure a meeting of presidents
A meeting that I am sure people are waiting for.""We see significant progress," Leonid Slutsky, a senior member of Russia's negotiating
team, told state-run television network RT Sunday.Talks between Kyiv and Moscow have yet to yield a ceasefire and Russian forces have shown
no sign of easing their onslaught.In an attack dangerously close to NATO member Poland, Russian air strikes Sunday on a Ukrainian military
training ground near the border killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 130.Zelenskiy on Monday renewed his call for NATO to impose
a no-fly zone following the attack near the western city of Lviv."If you do not close our sky, it is only a matter of time before Russian
missiles fall on your territory, on NATO territory, on the homes of NATO citizens," Zelenskiy said in a video address.Washington and its EU
out any direct intervention, with President Joe Biden warning that NATO fighting Russia "is World War III."Biden spoke with French President
Emmanuel Macron Sunday and the two leaders "underscored their commitment to hold Russia accountable for its actions and support the
government and people of Ukraine," the White House said.Black Sea blockadeIn its intelligence update Sunday, Britain's defense ministry said
Russia had established a naval blockade on the Black Sea coast, "effectively isolating Ukraine from international maritime trade.""Russian
naval forces are also continuing to conduct missile strikes against targets throughout Ukraine," it said.But in a sign Moscow may have
underestimated the challenge it would face, U.S
officials told media Russia had asked China for military and economic aid for the war.Moscow also asked Beijing for economic assistance
against the crippling sanctions imposed against it, the New York Times said, citing anonymous officials.Russia's Finance Ministry in a
statement Monday accused foreign countries of wanting to force Moscow into an "artificial default" through sanctions.Beijing later accused
Washington of spreading lies over China's role in the Ukraine war, without directly addressing the U.S
has been spreading disinformation targeting China on the Ukraine issue, with malicious intentions," foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian
said.That came hours after the White House said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan would meet top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome
diplomat Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly asking for military
help could be a "defining moment" for China's Xi Jinping.Beijing has declined to directly condemn Moscow's invasion, and has repeatedly
blamed NATO's "eastward expansion" for worsening tensions, echoing the Kremlin's prime security grievance.The latest fighting in Kyiv's
24.'No honor, no mercy'Meanwhile, efforts continued to get help to the devastated southern city of Mariupol, which aid agencies say is
facing a humanitarian catastrophe.A humanitarian column headed there had to turn back again on Sunday, a city official told AFP, after the
Russians "did not stop firing." It is expected to try again on Monday.A total of 2,187 residents have now died in days of relentless Russian
bombardment, the city council said Sunday."The enemy is holding the city hostage by performing real acts of genocide," said Ukraine Defense
another 125,000 people had been evacuated that way across Ukraine.Russia's forces had earlier focused on eastern and southern areas of
Russia was "clearly, at least from an air strike perspective..
broadening their target sets."Meanwhile in Kyiv, only the roads to the south remain open, according to the Ukrainian presidency
City authorities have set up checkpoints, and people are stockpiling food and medicine.The northwestern suburb of Bucha is entirely held by
Russian forces, along with parts of Irpin, Ukrainian soldiers told AFP
Some blocks in the once well-to-do suburb have been reduced to rubble.'Stop this massacre!'Britain's defense ministry said Saturday that
Russian forces were about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Kyiv.However, the Russians are encountering resistance from the Ukrainian army to
both the east and west of the capital, according to AFP journalists on the scene."Russia is paying a high price for each advance as the
Ukrainian Armed Forces continues to offer staunch resistance across the country," Britain's defense ministry said in its intelligence
update.The UN estimates almost 2.7 million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion, most of them to Poland, which is struggling to
provide for the arrivals.Pope Francis on Sunday issued an impassioned plea to the Russians, saying, "In the name of God, I ask you, stop
its only toll released March 2.About 1,300 Ukrainian troops have been killed, according to Kyiv.In the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson,
Russian troops fired warning shots after thousands of locals gathered to protest against the invasion, local media said.And in Russia,
Instagram was no longer accessible Monday after Moscow accused its parent company Meta of allowing calls for violence against Russians on
at a hospital outside Kyiv, which was shown in a video released Sunday."Feel better, stay strong," a visibly moved Zelenskiy told them
"You are doing a great job."
