Kremlin says 'too soon to assess' Ukraine talks

Russian and Ukrainian officials met on Monday on the border between Belarus

The Kremlin on Tuesday said it was too early to draw conclusions from a first round of talks held with Ukraine on ending the war following Moscow's invasion last week.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had been informed about the talks and that "it is too soon to assess" their outcome.

Russian and Ukrainian officials met on Monday on the border between Belarus and Ukraine for the first talks since the outbreak of war.

Mr. Peskov said Moscow will "analyse" the outcome of the talks.

He spoke several hours after Ukrainian officials said the Russian army shelled the central square of Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv.

Russian troops also reached the southern city of Kherson on Tuesday, advancing from Moscow-annexed Crimea.

Mr. Peskov said Russian forces "do not carry out strikes against civilian infrastructure or residential complexes", despite widespread evidence otherwise.