Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces to be put on high alert even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to start peace talks with Russia.

Here are top developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict:

🔴 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to start peace talks with Russia, his office said Sunday. Following a phone call with Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko, Zelenskyy’s office said he had agreed to send a delegation to a meeting on the Belarusian-Ukrianian border near the Pripyat river. The talks would be the first to take place since Russia invaded Ukraine. His office said the talks would be held without preconditions. “We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River,” Zelenskyy said in a statement.

🔴 Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces put on high alert amid tensions with the West over his invasion of Ukraine. Putin ordered the Russian defense minister and the chief of the military’s General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a “special regime of combat duty”. His order raised the threat that the tensions with the West over the invasion in Ukraine could lead to the use of nuclear weapons.

🔴 Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of Nato, said Putin’s nuclear rhetoric is “dangerous”. “This is dangerous rhetoric. This is a behavior which is irresponsible,” Stoltenberg said on CNN. “And of course when you combine this rhetoric with what they are doing on the ground in Ukraine – waging war against an independent, sovereign nation, conducting full-fledged invasion of Ukraine – this adds to the seriousness of the situation.”

🔴 Ukrainian forces repelled the Russian attempt to seize Kharkiv, the city’s governor claimed on Sunday. This came after fierce fighting was reported from Ukraine’s second-largest city. Kharkiv’s Governor Oleh Synyehubov posted on Facebook, “Control over Kharkiv is completely ours! A complete cleansing of the city from the enemy is happening. The Russian enemy is absolutely demoralised.”

🔴 The mayor of Kyiv said on Sunday there were no Russian troops in the Ukrainian capital, which was holding its defence against attacks.” But our military, law enforcement and territorial defence continue to detect and neutralize saboteurs,” Vitaly Klitschko wrote on his Telegram channel.

🔴 Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting on the Ukraine crisis on Sunday, PTI reported. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was part of the meeting, which was also attended by top government officials, as per PTI. Modi presided over the meeting immediately upon his return from Uttar Pradesh, where he addressed rallies as part of the BJP’s campaign for the state assembly polls. A large number of Indians, mostly students, are stranded in Ukraine following Russia’s attack on the country. India has begun evacuating them, and over 900 people have been brought back since Saturday.

🔴 Pope Francis has denounced the “diabolical and perverse logic” of launching a war in Ukraine in his strongest public comments yet. Pope Francis also called Sunday for humanitarian corridors to welcome Ukrainian refugees fleeing the “tragic” invasion of their homeland. Pope Francis has refrained from calling out Russia by name as he seeks to mend ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, and he again omitted any reference to Moscow on Sunday. But he said: “Those who make war forget humanity,” adding that warfare “relies on the diabolical and perverse logic of weapons, which is the farthest thing from God’s will.”

🔴 Ukraine will prove in a fair court that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “a main war criminal” of the 21st century, Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova told Ukrainian TV. Earlier, Ukraine said it had submitted an application against Russia to the International Court of Justice. Meanwhile, the Russian state prosecutor’s office said on Sunday that anyone providing financial or other assistance to a foreign state or international organisation aimed against Russia’s security could be convicted of treason, facing a maximum sentence of 20 years.

🔴 Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday his government was proceeding ‘with moderation and responsibility’ on a conflict testing its ties to Kyiv and Moscow. “We pray for the wellbeing of the citizens of Ukraine and hope that further bloodshed is prevented,’ Bennett said. ‘We are conducting ourselves with moderation and responsibility’. He said Israel is sending 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including water-purification kits, medical equipment and tents. It will arrive within days,” Bennet said.

🔴 Russian forces have lost about 4,300 servicemen during their invasion of Ukraine, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said on Sunday, adding however that the number was being clarified. She also said on her Facebook page that Russian troops lost about 146 tanks, 27 aircraft and 26 helicopters.

(With agency inputs)