Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

Turkey says Russia, Ukraine 'close to agreement'

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Russia and Ukraine have made progress on their negotiations to halt the invasion and are "close to an agreement".

Turkey says it is also ready to host a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

'Time to meet', says Zelensky

Zelensky calls for urgent talks with Russia, saying in a Facebook video that they are the "only chance for Russia to minimise the damage done with their own mistakes".

Zelensky has been pushing for direct talks with Putin. 

Hypersonic weapons

Russia says for a second day in a row it has fired its newest hypersonic missiles in Ukraine, destroying a fuel storage site in the country's south.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin says that even if Russia is using such weapons, they are not a "game changer" in the war.

China says not arming Russia

China's ambassador to the US says his country is not sending weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, but he does not definitively rule out the possibility Beijing might do so in the future.

Beijing has so far resisted western pressure to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and US President Joe Biden has warned Chinese leader Xi Jinping of "consequences" if he backs Moscow.

Pope denounces 'senseless massacre'

Pope Francis denounces the "senseless massacre where every day slaughter and atrocities are repeated" in Ukraine, appealing to the international community to stop the war.

"There is no justification for this," he adds.

Mariupol art school bombed

Ukrainian authorities accuse Russian forces of bombing an art school in the besieged city of Mariupol where some 400 people, including women and children, had been sheltering.

City officials say Russian forces have forcibly transported around a thousand residents to Russia and stripped them of their Ukrainian passports.

Mariupol orphans moved to Russia

A group of children stuck in a clinic in Ukraine's besieged Mariupol for weeks have been taken to Russian-controlled territory, a carer and a relative of a clinic worker tell AFP.

The 19 children, aged between four and 17 and mostly orphans, had been living in freezing cellars hiding from shelling in harrowing conditions.

Zelensky tells Israel to back Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urges Israel to abandon its effort to maintain neutrality following Russia's invasion, saying the time had come for the Jewish state to firmly back his country.

"We can mediate between states but not between good and evil," the Ukrainian leader says.

Chernigiv hospital hit

The mayor of the encircled northern city of Chernigiv says dozens of civilians have been killed by "indiscriminate artillery shelling", and that a hospital has been hit. 

"The city is suffering from an absolute humanitarian catastrophe," he adds. 

Azovstal steel works damaged

Ukrainian officials say one of Europe's biggest iron and steel works, Azovstal, has been badly damaged by Russian forces. 

Australia bans alumina, bauxite exports

Australia bans all exports of alumina and bauxite to Russia while pledging more weapons and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

The export ban aims to hit aluminium production in Russia, which relies on Australia for 20% of its alumina.

10 million have fled their homes in Ukraine

Ten million people - more than a quarter of the population - have now fled their homes in Ukraine due to Russia's "devastating" war, the United Nations refugees chief says Sunday. More than 3.3 million of them have escaped the country.

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