Talks with Russia very difficult: Ukraine

Kyiv, Mar 25: Talks with Russia were "very difficult" as it vowed not to back down on its demands, Ukraine said on Friday.

"The negotiation process is very difficult," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Rueters.

"The Ukrainian delegation has taken a strong position and does not relinquish its demands. We insist, first of all, on a ceasefire, security guarantees, and territorial integrity of Ukraine," he added.

He also said there had been "no consensus" on key points with Russia.

About 300 people were killed in the Russian airstrike last week on a Mariupol theater that was being used as a shelter, Ukrainian authorities said Friday in what would make it the war's deadliest known attack on civilians yet.

Meanwhile, in what could signal an important narrowing of Moscow's military objectives, the U.S. said Russian forces appear to have halted, at least for now, their ground offensive aimed at capturing the capital, Kyiv, and are concentrating more on the fighting for control of the Donbas region in the country's southeast - a shift the Kremlin seemed to confirm.

The seeming shift in Moscow's stated war aims -- after weeks in which Vladimir Putin denied Ukraine's right to exist as an sovereign country and appeared bent on capturing many of its cities and toppling its government - could point to a possible exit strategy for Russia, which has suffered fiercer resistance and heavier losses than anticipated.

The Donbas is the largely Russian-speaking eastern part of the country where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014 and where many residents have expressed support for Moscow.

with PTI inputs