Putin sees 'positive shifts' in talks with Ukraine

Moscow, Mar 11: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said some progress had been made in Moscow's talks with Ukraine, while the Kremlin said the conflict would end when the West took action to address Moscow concerns.

He further said that Ukrainian negotiations were taking place practically every day.

"There are certain positive shifts, negotiators on our side tell me," Putin was quoted saying by Rueters.

"I will talk about all of this later," he added.

On March 10, the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine met at a Turkish Mediterranean resort for the first high-level talks between the two countries since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia widened its military offensive in Ukraine on Friday, striking near airports in the west of the country for the first time, as observers and satellite photos indicated that its troops, long stalled in a convoy outside the capital Kyiv, were trying to maneuver to encircle the city.

With the invasion now in its third week, the U.S. and its allies prepared to step up their efforts to isolate and sanction Russia by revoking its most favoured trading status. The move comes amid mounting outrage after a deadly airstrike hit a maternity hospital in the key Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, under an increasingly constricting 10-day-old siege.