Russia's war in Ukraine entered the third week on Thursday with none of its stated objectives reached, despite thousands of people killed, more than 2 million made refugees and thousands cowering in besieged cities under relentless bombardment.

The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine met on Thursday in Turkey, the highest level contact between the two countries since the war began on Feb. 24, but in simultaneous dueling news conferences made clear they had made no progress.

Ukraine's Dmytro Kuleba said he had secured no promise from Russia's Sergey Lavrov to halt firing so aid could reach civilians, including Kyiv's main humanitarian priority — evacuating hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the besieged port of Mariupol.