Zelensky rules out surrender, presses Putin for talks
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said his country would be "destroyed" before it surrenders its cities to invading Russian forces, as he doubled down on a call for direct talks with Vladimir Putin as the key to ending the war.
As Russia defended overnight strikes that reduced a Kyiv shopping mall to rubble, killing eight, US President Joe Biden held a call with European leaders to address the increasingly "brutal tactics" employed by Moscow -- undeterred by unprecedented Western sanctions.
"Ukraine cannot fulfil Russian ultimatums," he said. "We should be destroyed first."
In Kyiv, a new 35-hour curfew was ordered from 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) Monday, after Russian strikes -- likely a missile -- laid waste to the "Retroville" shopping complex where AFP reporters saw six bodies covered by black sheets on the ground.
An Orthodox priest walking through the wreckage whispered prayers while cursing "Russian terrorists".
But Putin's troops have been increasingly accused of deliberately targeting civilians, including in Mariupol, scene of an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
Almost 350,000 people are trapped without water and electricity in the southern port which has been relentlessly assaulted by Russia in what European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described as a "massive war crime".
But fatalities are almost certainly higher, with Mariupol officials saying the death toll in that city alone has surpassed 2,000 amid indiscriminate shelling.
"Today Mariupol is saving Kyiv, Dnipro and Odessa," Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.
Ukraine and Russia have held several rounds of talks via videoconferencing, but so far without a major breakthrough, and Zelensky reiterated that direct talks with his Russian counterpart "in any format" were now needed.
- Diplomatic push -
The White House said the leaders discussed their "serious concerns about Russia's brutal tactics in Ukraine, including its attacks on civilians."
Biden for his part warned of intelligence pointing to a growing Russian cyber threat and urged US businesses to immediately "harden" their cyber defenses.
Zelensky urged Europe in his latest video address to significantly dial up the pressure, saying the continent must cease all trade with Russia.
Some EU members are pushing for a complete embargo on Russian oil and gas, but Germany has so far rejected the call, warning it could spark social instability.
- Referendum -
NATO has rebuffed Ukraine's pleas to intervene in the conflict, including imposing a no-fly zone to help halt Russian bombings, instead pledging a flow of military support in the form of weapons like portable anti-tank systems.
But as he recently conceded, Zelensky indicated again Monday that Kyiv recognizes it will not join NATO, because its member states "are afraid of Russia."
"And we have to calm down and say: 'Ok (we need) other security guarantees'," including possibly from NATO countries operating independently from the alliance, he told Ukrainian public media.
With casualties mounting, Kyiv also turned to another major world power, China, urging it to "play an important role in" ending the conflict.
Humanitarian conditions have continued to deteriorate in the mostly Russian-speaking south and east, where Putin's forces have been pressing their advance, as well as in the north around Kyiv.
Around 10 million Ukrainians have fled their homes, roughly one-third going abroad, the UN refugee agency said.
Signs of strain are also appearing in Russia, where panic buying at supermarkets prompted warnings not to stockpile.