People queue up to receive humanitarian relief supplies in Mariupol, Ukraine on March 23, 2022. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)

Colonel Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, Ministry of Defense of Ukraine spokesperson, said the situation in Mariupol is extremely difficult but the city was not under full control of Russian forces.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said there had not been any recent diplomatic communications between Russia and Ukraine at the level of their foreign ministries and that the situation in Mariupol port may be a "red line" in the path of negotiations.

Ukrainian soldiers resisted a Russian ultimatum to lay down arms at Mariupol port, which Moscow said its forces had almost completely controlled after nearly two months of fighting.

The same day, press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov blamed Ukraine for changing its position on the issues that had been agreed in peace talks, adding that contacts continue at the expert level within the framework of the negotiation process.