Russia's Defence Ministry says troops will observe a ceasefire in two areas of Ukraine so that civilians can escape.
The ministry statement reported by Russian state news agencies says evacuation routes have been set up in the strategic port of Mariupol in the southeast and the eastern town of Volnovakha.
A vast Russian armoured column threatening Ukraine's capital remains stalled outside Kyiv, but Russia's military has launched hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites across the country.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with political leaders of the U-K, Netherlands, Germany and several other eastern European counties next week to co-ordinate additional responses to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Trudeau is visiting Latvia, Poland, Germany and the U-K, where he will also have an audience with the Queen during his time in London.
The prime minister says Canada and its allies are working to counter -- quote -- ``the kind of disinformation and misinformation that we know is a facet of day-to-day life these days, but a particularly strong facet of this conflict, this war in Ukraine.''
