Zelensky agrees to hold talks with Russia,Ukraine retakes Kharkiv

Ukraine on Sunday agreed to hold talks with Russia in Belarus, the Russian state media said quoting officials in Moscow. An AFP input quoted the Ukraine presidency as saying the country has agreed to hold talks with Russia at Belarus border. This came after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was willing to meet with Russia for peace talks, but not in a country that served as a staging ground for invasion. He said Ukraine was open for negotiations at other locations that were not showing aggression towards his country. Later, he took to his Telegram channel to state that he had spoken with Belarus' leader Alexander Lukashenko. He provided no further details so far. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video message,said he welcomed an offer from Turkey and Azerbaijan to organize diplomatic efforts, which so far have faltered. The Kremlin confirmed a phone call between Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev but gave no hint of restarting talks. A day earlier, Zelenskyy offered to negotiate a key Russian demand of abandoning ambitions of joining NATO.

Meanwhile,Ukraine took Russia to the International Court of Justice in The Hague on Day 4 of the invasion, as Russian forces continued to hit Ukrainian cities with artillery and cruise missiles. Ukraine is establishing a foreign "international" legion for volunteers from abroad, President Zelenskiy said in a statement on Sunday. The President has vowed to remain in the capital Kyiv and has said it remains completely under Ukraine's control. Ukrainian forces had secured full control of its second city Kharkiv on Sunday. The local governor said. "Kharkiv is fully under our control," the head of the regional administration, Oleg Sinegubov, said on Telegram, adding that the army was expelling Russian forces during a "clean-up" operation.
In Ukraine, the bulk of Russian forces were 30 kilometers from the city's center, according to Britain and the U.S. It was unclear how much territory Russian forces had seized or to what extent their advance had been stalled. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said the speed of the Russian advance has temporarily slowed likely as a result of acute logistical difficulties and strong Ukrainian resistance. While Russia claims its assault on Ukraine from the north, east and south is aimed only at military targets, Ukraine claimed bridges, schools and residential neighborhoods have been hit.