Russia and Ukraine, still in a military conflict that started on February 24, are planning the second round of talks following the first one on Monday.

The second round of negotiations may take place on Wednesday (March 2) in Viskuli of Brest, a city in southwestern Belarus bordering Poland, Belarusian political researcher Yuri Voskresensky told China Media Group on Tuesday.

The first round of peace talks between the two sides in Belarus lasted about five hours, with no major breakthrough.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that the talks with Russia have not achieved the expected results.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a top adviser to Zelenskyy, said the talks focused on a possible ceasefire, but gave few details.

Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation, said the two sides "found certain points on which common positions could be foreseen."

Both sides identified some priority topics on which they outlined certain decisions, Al Jazeera reported.

Although it's not clear what those priority topics are, the Ukrainian side is seeking an immediate ceasefire and the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops, while the Russian side is looking for guarantees about Ukraine's neutrality and that it would never join NATO, Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull reported.

In a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron shortly before the Russian-Ukrainian talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined Moscow's demands for ending the military operation, which included recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea and Ukraine's demilitarization, AFP reported.

During the phone call, the Russian leader stressed that "a settlement is possible only if Russia's legitimate security interests are unconditionally taken into account," said the Kremlin.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Russian army will continue its special military operation in Ukraine until achieving its goals, the most important of which is to protect Russia from the West's external military threat, TASS reported Tuesday. 

The NATO Response Force has been deployed to Romania, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday at a press conference after meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

NATO allies have boosted support to Ukraine with military equipment, financial assistance and humanitarian aid, Stoltenberg said Monday via Twitter.

"NATO Allies are stepping up support with air-defense missiles, anti-tank weapons, as well as humanitarian and financial aid," Stoltenberg tweeted.

NATO said in a press release on Sunday that Ukraine has received "critical weapons," including Javelin missiles and anti-aircraft missiles. 

Kharkiv bombarded

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city with a population of around 1.4 million, has been hit by a Russian strike, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday.

The central square of the city, together with the surrounding regional administration building and residential areas, were hit by Russian missiles, said regional administration chief Oleg Synegubov.

He shared a video showing the Kharkiv regional administration building being hit by a missile and exploding, and said at least 11 people had been killed.

Earlier, Ukrainian Interior Minister's adviser Anton Herashchenko said Russian strikes on Monday had killed dozens of people in Kharkiv.

406 reported civilian casualties, 660,000 refugees

There have been at least 406 reported civilian casualties in Ukraine, including at least 102 killed just within the past few days, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said Monday, citing numbers from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

And more than 660,000 refugees have fled the conflict in Ukraine to seek shelter in neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said Tuesday.

"The numbers are exponentially increasing... At this rate, the situation looks set to become Europe's largest refugee crisis this century," spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo told reporters in Geneva.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for an immediate end to the military operations in Ukraine.

"The fighting in Ukraine must stop. It is raging across the country, from air, land and sea. It must stop now," he told an emergency special session of the UN General Assembly on Ukraine.