Russian forces shell civilian areas during Ukraine peace talks

Ukrainian and Russian officials arrived at the Ukraine-Belarus border for peace talks that kicked off at 6am ET Monday, as President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Day 5 of the invasion that the next 24 hours would be “crucial” to Ukraine’s fate.

The latest: A senior U.S. defense official told reporters that Russia’s advance on Kyiv from the north moved only 5 kilometers from Sunday, putting them roughly 25 kilometers outside the center of the capital.

• Russia has deployed nearly 75% of its assembled combat power inside Ukraine, and has launched approximately 380 missiles so far, the official said.
• Five days into the war, Russia has still not achieved air superiority over Ukraine, with its ground forces “running out of gas and having logistics problems,” the official added.
• The official said the Russians’ goal continues to be to “encircle Kyiv from multiple locations,” and to capture the cities of Kharkiv and Mariupol to allow them to section off eastern Ukraine.

State of play: An adviser to Zelensky tweeted at 9:40am ET that a third round of talks were getting underway, nearly four hours after negotiations began.

• As peace talks were ongoing, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said dozens of civilians had been killed and hundreds wounded by indiscriminate shelling in Kharkiv, a city on the border with Russia.
• French President Emmanuel Macron had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which Putin said a deal “is possible only if Russia’s legitimate security interests are unconditionally taken into account,” according to a Kremlin readout.
• The State Department accused Russia on Monday of “widespread” human rights abuses during the invasion: “Russia’s invasion has damaged and destroyed schools, hospitals, radio stations, and homes, killing and injuring civilians, including children.”

The big picture: Zelensky’s office called for an “immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine” as several high-ranking Ukrainian officials headed to the talks, but he expressed little optimism that the negotiations would result in an end to the attack.

What else is happening: In his latest address, Zelensky called for Ukraine’s immediate accession to the EU — one day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine is “one of us and we want them in.”

• 16 Ukrainian children have been killed and 45 have been wounded during the war, while Russia has suffered 4,500 casualties, Zelensky said. International monitors have not verified these numbers.
• Zelensky said that he will allow prisoners with combat experience to be released to help defend the country and “compensate their guilt.”
• Ukraine’s deputy defense minister also claimed Ukraine has received “thousands” of requests from foreign volunteers to join a new “International Legion” to fight Russia.
• Russia closed its airspace to Germany, France, the U.K. and 33 other countries, after the EU froze out Russian aircraft on Monday.
• More than 500,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries, including Poland, Hungary, Romania and Moldova, the U.N. said.

Zoom out: Russia’s currency collapsed in overnight trading, with the ruble plummeting against the dollar as the West imposed unprecedented, crippling sanctions and massive corporations said they would end their business in Russia.

• The Russian central bank raised interest rates from 9.5% to 20% and announced a raft of measures — including the suspension of stock trading on the Moscow Exchange — in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding.
• The Biden administration announced Monday morning that Russia’s central bank will be prohibited from undertaking transactions in dollars under a new concerted effort by the U.S. and its allies that is set to accelerate Russia’s economic tailspin.

Go deeper: Get the latest with the Ukraine-Russia dashboard