Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: Turkish FM says Russia, Ukraine make progress in ceasefire negotiations

BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues on Monday as relevant parties are working to broker a peaceful solution. Following are the latest developments of the situation:

Russia and Ukraine have made progress on the "critical" articles of a ceasefire agreement being negotiated, but some issues still require decisions by their leaders, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Sunday.

"If the parties do not step back from their current positions, we can say that we are hopeful for a ceasefire," Cavusoglu told local daily Hurriyet.

"We see that the parties are close to agreement on fundamental issues," Cavusoglu said, reiterating his optimism when attending a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party.

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Humanitarian corridors from Ukraine's Mariupol will be opened from 10 a.m. Moscow time (0700 GMT) on Monday, Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, said Sunday.

Up to 130,000 civilians, including 184 foreigners from six countries, are "currently held hostage in the city," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, citing the official.

"In order to save human lives and preserve the infrastructure of Mariupol ... Russia will open humanitarian corridors from Mariupol in the eastern and western directions upon the agreement with the Ukrainian side from 10 a.m. Moscow time (0700 GMT) tomorrow, on March 21," Mizintsev said.

Russian forces and Donetsk's units will "declare a 'complete silence regime' and guarantee its observance from 9:30 a.m. Moscow time (0630 GMT)," he added.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill extending martial law in Ukraine, the press service of Ukraine's parliament said Sunday.

The legislation extended the current martial law for 30 days starting March 26.

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Russia remains open to cooperation with Western countries, but will not initiate an improvement in the relations with them, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday.

"Let's see how they will get out of the impasse they have driven themselves into. Their values, the principles of the free market, the inviolability of private property, and the presumption of innocence are all trampled on by themselves," he said.

According to Lavrov, the United States is sending diplomats to many countries to ask them to withdraw from cooperation with Russia.