Ukraine is ready to hold a “special round of negotiations” with Russia in the besieged city of Mariupol without any conditions, negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak has tweeted.

He said the talks could be “one on one. Two on two. To save our guys, [the far right] Azov [battalion], military, civilians, children, the living and the wounded”.

Another key Ukrainian negotiator, David Arakhamia, wrote on Telegram that he and Podolyak “are ready to arrive in Mariupol to hold talks with the Russian side on the evacuation of our military garrison and civilians”.

There was no immediate response from Russia to the proposal.