<span style="color: #222222;">Russia and Ukraine kept diplomatic path open with a new round of talks yesterday even as Moscow's military operations continued at Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine.<br />''<br />''Meanwhile, a convoy of 160 civilian cars left the encircled port city of Mariupol along a designated humanitarian route, the city council reported, in a glimmer of hope in the conflict-torn country.</span><br />''The latest negotiations, held via video conference, were the fourth round involving higher-level officials from the two countries and the first in a week. The talks ended without a breakthrough after several hours, with an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying the negotiators took a technical pause and planned to meet again today.<br />''<br />''The two sides had expressed some optimism in the past few days. Mykhailo Podolyak, the aide to Zelenskyy, tweeted that the negotiators would discuss peace, ceasefire, immediate withdrawal of troops & security guarantees.<br />''<br />''Previous discussions, held in person in Belarus, produced no lasting humanitarian routes or agreements to end the fighting.<br />''<br />''In Washington, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing yesterday that while the Biden administration supports Ukraine's participation in the talks with Russia, President Vladimir Putin would have to show signs of de-escalating in order to demonstrate good faith.<br />''<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Ukrainian authorities said two people were killed when the Russians struck an airplane factory in Kyiv, sparking a large fire. The Antonov factory is Ukraine's largest aircraft plant and produces many of the world's biggest cargo planes.</span><br />