"We will destroy this 'Anti-Russia' created by the West," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement late Thursday, in reference to Ukraine that his military has invaded recently.

"Russians, Ukrainians are the same people," he added.

Putin also said that Russia's "operation against neo-Nazis in Ukraine is going according to plan."

Earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Putin to "stop this war," underlining the need for the two leaders to speak without preconditions as the second round of negotiations between the parties continues.

Moscow and Kyiv began a second round of talks in western Belarus earlier on the same day, just hours after Putin reiterated his country's demands in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

Both sides had agreed on the Brest region in western Belarus as the venue for the talks and the Russian military planned a "security corridor" to allow the Ukrainian delegation's passage.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has urged Russia to declare a cease-fire in the hard-hit eastern regions of Kharkiv and Sumy to allow civilians to reach safety.

The first negotiations on Monday at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border brought no tangible results. Russian attacks continued to pummel Ukraine, and several explosions were registered in Kyiv early Thursday, the eighth day of the invasion, triggering air raid sirens.