Kyiv has rejected an offer from Moscow to create “humanitarian corridors” allowing civilians to flee six heavily bombed Ukrainian cities after it emerged that most of the supposedly safe routes led directly to Russia or its ally, Belarus.

The Russian offer came before a third round of peace talks. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said in advance of the discussions that Moscow was ready to halt operations “in a moment” if Kyiv met a list of conditions. These included ceasing military action, changing its constitution to ensure neutrality, acknowledging Crimea as Russian territory and recognising the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.