Russian forces target Ukrainian cities, diplomatic talks on pause until Tuesday

The latest:

Russia's military forces kept up their punishing campaign to capture Ukraine's capital with fighting and artillery fire in Kyiv's suburbs Monday after an airstrike on a military base near the Polish border brought the war dangerously close to NATO's doorstep.

A new round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials raised hopes that progress would be made in evacuating civilians from besieged Ukrainian cities and getting emergency supplies to areas without enough food, water and medicine.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Monday afternoon that the talks via video conference were underway. "Everyone is waiting for news. We will definitely report in the evening," Zelensky said in a new video address.

Later Monday, one of Zelensky's key advisers, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that negotiations were paused until Tuesday.

Meanwhile, air raid alerts sounded in cities and towns all around the country overnight, from near the Russian border in the east to the Carpathian Mountains in the west, as fighting continued on the outskirts of Kyiv.

Ukrainian officials said Russian forces shelled several suburbs of the capital, a major political and strategic target.

The hope for a breakthrough in talks came the day after Russian missiles pounded a military training base in western Ukraine that previously served as a crucial hub for cooperation between Ukraine and NATO.

The attack killed 35 people, Ukrainian officials said, and the base's proximity to the borders of Poland and other NATO members raised concerns that the Western military alliance could be drawn into the the largest land conflict in Europe since the Second World War.

Speaking Sunday night,  Zelensky called it a "black day" and again urged NATO leaders to establish a no-fly zone over his country, a move the West has rejected for fear of starting a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.

"If you do not close our sky, it is only a matter of time before Russian missiles fall on your territory. NATO territory. On the homes of citizens of NATO countries," Zelensky said, urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with him directly, a request that has gone unanswered by the Kremlin.

While Russia's military is bigger and better equipped than Ukraine's, Russian troops have faced stiffer than expected resistance, bolstered by Western weapons support that has frustrated Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With their advance slowed in several areas, they have bombarded several cities with unrelenting shelling, hitting two dozen medical facilities and creating a series of humanitarian crises.

Ukraine said Moscow's troops failed to make major advances over the past 24 hours. The Russian Defense Ministry gave a different assessment, saying its forces had advanced 11 kilometres and reached five towns north of Mariupol.