<span style="color: #222222;">After Ukraine refused to hold talks in Belarus, Russia said it has given orders to its army to broaden its offensive against its neighbour from all directions. In a statement, Russian defence ministry said, after the Ukrainian side rejected the negotiation process, all units were given orders to advance from all directions.<br />''<br />''On Friday, Russia had said that President Putin is ready to send a delegation to Belarus for talks with Ukraine, but the Kyiv leadership wanted talks in Warsaw instead.<br />''<br />''The announcement came on the same day US President Joe Biden signed a memorandum to provide up to 600 million dollars in "immediate military assistance" to Ukraine.<br />''<br />''Earlier, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had announced that their force thwarted the Kremlin's advancement to capture Kyiv.<br />''<br />''But the Russian troops continued to march on with their coordinated attacks. They launched missile and artillery attacks on Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv.<br />''<br />''They also reportedly took over the Kyiv hydroelectric power plant north of the capital.<br />''<br />''According to the United Kingdom's defence ministry, the bulk of Russian forces involved in the advance on Kyiv were now 30 kilometres from the city centre.</span><br />