Vladimir Putin tells Ukraine to stop fighting amid new ceasefire calls

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday his campaign in Ukraine was going according to plan and would not end until Kyiv stopped fighting, as efforts to evacuate the heavily bombarded city of Mariupol failed for a second day in a row.

He made the comments in a phone call with Turkish President Tayyep Erdogan, who appealed for a ceasefire in the conflict that the United Nations says has created the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two.

Russian television said Putin also held talks on Sunday with President Emmanuel Macron, who has stayed in regular contact but, as with other international efforts, has yet to convince Moscow to call off a campaign now in an 11th day.

Authorities in Mariupol had said on Sunday they would make a second attempt to evacuate some of the 400,000 residents, after the Ukrainian coastal city endured days of shelling