Russian President Vladimir Putin told his French counterpart on Monday that the demilitarisation of Ukraine and Western recognition of Russian sovereignty over the Crimean peninsula were prerequisites to ending fighting in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

"Vladimir Putin stressed that a settlement is possible only if Russia's legitimate security interests are unconditionally taken into account, including the recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, the demilitarisation and denazification of the Ukrainian state and ensuring its neutral status,"

according to a Kremlin readout of the call. Russian and Ukrainian delegations on Monday began their first talks since the start of the Russian invasion last week, Russian Foreign Ministry, Ukrainian media and Belarusian state news agency Belta reported. Ahead of the talks,

the Ukrainian presidency had demanded an immediate Russian ceasefire and troop withdrawal. Dozens of people were killed in rocket strikes by Russian forces on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Monday morning, Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said.

Kharkiv has just been massively fired upon by grads (rockets). Dozens of dead and hundreds of wounded," he said in a post on Facebook. The rockets have supposedly hit Ukraine's second city during talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials on the Belarusian border.