Russia's military action in Ukraine has entered a fifth day

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that he had signed an official request for Ukraine to join the bloc. Brussels is considering the application 

• Russian and Ukrainian officials ended their first round of talks to discuss a ceasefire and will return to their capitals for consultations before a second round. 

• Russia faced deepening isolation and economic turmoil as Western nations, united in condemnation of its assault, hit it with an array of sanctions.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin told France's Emmanuel Macron that a settlement was only possible if Kyiv was neutral, "denazified" and "demilitarised" and Russian control over annexed Crimea was formally recognized, the Kremlin said.

• The U.S. expects Russian forces to try to encircle Kyiv in the coming days and might become more aggressive out of frustration with their slow advance, a U.S. defense official said. 

• Ukraine's interior ministry said that 352 Ukrainian civilians had been killed as a result of Russia's military action, including 14 children. 

• Russia's ruble currency was down 30 percent against the dollar on Monday.

• Russian forces took two small cities in southeastern Ukraine, including the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, the Interfax news agency reported. 

Talks begin

The first round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials concluded on the Belarusian border, Moscow said. Russia's diplomatic and economic isolation deepened four days after invading Ukraine, the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two.

The Ukrainian president's office said talks began with the aim of an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces. 

Russia has been cagier, with the Kremlin declining to comment on Moscow's aim in discussions.

The talks are being held on the border with Russian ally Belarus, where a referendum on Sunday approved a new constitution ditching the country's non-nuclear status. The country has become a launchpad for Russian troops invading Ukraine.

Russian forces advance

Blasts were in the capital of Kyiv on Monday afternoon. But Ukrainian authorities said Russian ground forces' attempts to capture major urban centers had been repelled.

In the major eastern city of Kharkiv, video posted by the military and journalists showed thick plumes of smoke rising from apartment blocks and flashes of flames, apparently from missiles impacting. 

Russia's defense ministry said its forces had taken over the towns of Berdyansk and Enerhodar in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhya region and the area around Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, Interfax reported. The plant's operations continued, as usual, it added. 

According to the news agency, Ukraine denied that the nuclear plant had fallen into Russian hands. 

Civilian casualties 

At least 102 civilians in Ukraine have been killed since Thursday, with a further 304 wounded, but the actual figure is feared to be "considerably higher," U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than half a million people have already fled to neighboring countries.

A senior U.S. defense official said Russia had fired more than 350 missiles at Ukrainian targets since Thursday, some hitting civilian infrastructure.

"It appears that they are adopting a siege mentality, which any student of military tactics and strategy will tell you when you adopt siege tactics, it increases the likelihood of collateral damage," the official, quoted by Reuters, said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Russia demanded Alphabet Inc's Google immediately restrict access to information posted via  Google Ads, which it said contained inaccurate information about casualties sustained by Russian forces and Ukrainian civilians.

State communications regulator Roskomnadzor said it had sent a letter to Google demanding that the offending materials be removed and said it would block internet resources that publish such information.

The West sends weapons to Ukraine

Partners in the U.S.-led NATO alliance were providing Ukraine with air-defense missiles and anti-tank weapons, Chief Jens Stoltenberg stated in a tweet.

The Kremlin accused the European Union (EU) of hostile behavior, saying weapons supplies to Ukraine were destabilizing and proved that Russia was correct in its efforts to demilitarise its neighbor.

It declined to comment on whether there was a risk of confrontation between Russia and NATO. Russia has demanded that NATO never admit Ukraine, stating that doing so would risk a conflict with the bloc. 

Germany said it would increase defense spending massively, ditching a decades-long policy of resisting direct military expenditure and action. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said from now on Germany would invest more than 2 percent of economic output on defense, up from around 1.5 percent currently, and set up a 100-billion-euro ($112 billion) fund to re-equip the military.

Economic turmoil 

Russia's ruble plummeted nearly 30 percent against the dollar on Monday, following the decision by Western nations on Saturday to impose sweeping sanctions , including blocking some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system.

Russia's central bank scrambled to manage the broadening fallout, saying it would resume buying gold on the domestic market, launch a repurchase auction with no limits and ease restrictions on banks' open foreign currency positions.

It also ordered brokers to block attempts by foreigners to sell Russian securities. 

Several European subsidiaries of Sberbank Russia, majority-owned by the Russian government, were failing or were likely to fail due to the reputational cost of the war in Ukraine, the European Central Bank said. 

Britain said it was taking further measures against Russia in concert with the U.S. and EU. 

British oil giant BP, the biggest foreign investor in Russia, said it would abandon its stake in Russian state oil company Rosneft at a cost of up to $25 billion.