Russians besiege Ukrainian ports as armoured column stalls

A second round of talks aimed at ending the fighting was expected on Thursday between Ukraine and Russia, but there appeared to be little common ground between the two sides

A woman cries outside houses damaged by a Russian air strike, according to locals, in Gorenka, outside the capital Kyiv, Ukraine (Vadim Ghirda/AP)

Russian forces have laid siege to two strategic Ukrainian ports and pressed their bombardment of the country’s second-biggest city, while the huge armoured column threatening Kyiv appeared to be stalled outside the capital.

Moscow’s isolation deepened, meanwhile, when most of the world lined up against it at the United Nations to demand it withdraw from Ukraine.